The 2017 NBA Draft will take place Thursday night, and at least one UNC Tar Heel is slated to go in the first round, with an outside chance the Heels land two among the first 30 selections.
Justin Jackson, the 2017 ACC Player of the Year is projected to go in the first round of all 10 mock draft THI looked at, with his lowest projected spot No. 23 by NBADraftRoom.com and highest No. 13 by both CBSSports.com and NBA.com.
Jackson left UNC after three seasons as a Tar Heel that included two national championship game appearances, with the Heels winning the 2017 national title.
The other Tar Heel that could get drafted in the first round is Tony Bradley, who departed after just one season in Chapel Hill. According to the same 10 mock drafts, Bradley is only projected as a first-round selection in just one, as CBSSports.com has him going No. 28 overall.
There are 30 picks in both rounds and 60 total.
THI has broken down each of the 10 mock drafts we looked at to come up with an average projection for both players and the salary structure they can expect if they go in those spots.
Here are those figures:
Justin Jackson
SI – No. 20
CBSSports.com – No. 13
NBA.com – No. 13
DraftExpress – No. 16
NBADraft.net – No. 19
BleacherReport.com – No. 21
NBA Sports – No. 16
Yahoo! Sports – No. 21
NBADraftRoom.com – No. 23
Fox Sports – No. 15
Average Projection – 17.7
Salary Structure
2017-18 - $1,779,200
2018-19 - $2,111,900
2019-20 - $2,467,600
2020-21 – $3,790,234
Total - $10,148,934
Tony Bradley
SI – No. 33
CBSSports.com – No. 28
NBA.com – No. 38
DraftExpress – No. 31
NBADraft.net – No. 33
BleacherReport.com – NA*
NBA Sports – NA*
Yahoo! Sports – No. 33
NBADraftRoom.com –No. 31
Fox Sports – NA*
Average Projection – 32.4
2017-18 NBA minimum salary - $562,493
Note: The Nos. 32 and 33 draft picks last season signed 3-year deals with salaries of just more than $1 million in the second and third years of their deals.
*Only projected the first round
