ESPN’s debut big board for the 2027 NBA draft, published November 5, ranks 100 prospects and puts Kansas freshman Tyran Stokes at No. 1 — the opening salvo in a class NBA teams have spent months calling a down year and the first draft to run under the league’s new anti-tanking lottery rules.
A Weaker Class Meets a Changed College Game
Teams have spent months calling the 2027 class a down draft, and the reason sits with this year’s incoming freshman class, which ESPN draft Jeremy Woo considers weaker than the past few. Woo joined ESPN.com in 2023 after covering the NBA and draft for Sports Illustrated from 2015 to 2023. The cycle is underway as college basketball tips off this week.
Two structural changes compound that. The fifth year of eligibility now granted to NCAA prospects is expected to drastically affect the depth of the second round. And because programs can now pay top players above first-round pick contract values, most players on the board are expected to return to college, News Minimalist reports.
First Draft Under the NBA’s New Lottery Rules
The 2027 draft will be the first under the NBA’s new lottery system, approved May 28 by the league’s Board of Governors in a 29-1 vote — the Memphis Grizzlies the lone dissenting team, according to Yahoo Sports. The lottery expands from 14 to 16 teams. Teams with the fourth- through 10th-worst records will each carry an 8.1% chance at the No. 1 overall pick, and the bottom three teams will hold equal odds at the top but can fall no lower than No. 12. No team can win the No. 1 pick in consecutive years or land top-five picks in three consecutive drafts.
ESPN notes the new system increases variance in selection position: the worst teams can now fall outside the top 10, and play-in teams gain more upward mobility. The restrictions already bite. The Utah Jazz cannot receive a top-five pick in 2027 after landing top-five selections in each of the previous two drafts.
Stokes, Joksimovic and Branch III Lead the Top 100
Stokes, a 6-8 freshman, starts the season with a real chance to establish himself at No. 1, and Kansas’ success is largely dependent on how quickly he adjusts to college. Stefan Joksimovic of Baskonia and BYU’s Bruce Branch III round out the top three, per the News Minimalist summary of Woo’s board.
Older, NBA-ready prospects are expected to rise in this flat class. Arizona senior Motiejus Krivas, a 7-2 center who was trending toward the first round of the 2026 draft before returning to school, now has a pathway into the lottery and opens the season viewed by many scouts as the most NBA-ready college center, with strong market demand for bigs around the league. Florida’s Thomas Haugh is another veteran name expected to climb.
Defenders Drawing NBA Attention Emerge
North Carolina freshman Keita arrives in Chapel Hill after developing in FC Barcelona’s system, a 6-11 defender with a 7-foot-7 wingspan whose rim protection and mobility have put him on the radar as a potential one-and-done prospect. Arkansas freshman Muurinen, a bouncy 7-footer who has put NBA-level tools on display in an up-tempo system, could be a beneficiary of the draft’s flatter nature if he tests in the spring.
Woo cautions that the board will change quite a bit in the coming months as players emerge and separate themselves. The rankings reflect his own evaluations and intel from around the NBA and college ranks — not a mock draft accounting for team fit or draft order.
Earlier coverage: Dame Sarr and Luigi Suigo Projected Top 30 in ESPN 2027 NBA Mock Draft
