5 Prospects Improving Their Draft Stock, and the 1 Star Who is Hurting His

As the NBA Draft inches closer and closer, you start hearing about prospects who are either helping or hurting their draft stock after workouts and interviews. I'll be breaking down 5 prospects that are reportedly on the rise, and a star prospect that might be falling based on the latest draft buzz and rumors.

RISING: Deni Avdija, SF (Isreal)

Avdija has always been labeled as a potential top 5 guy, but he's firmly put himself into the discussion to be one of the first two players selected on draft night.

Minnesota's President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas has publicly stated that the team has yet to identify a clear top prospect in this draft. Doing some reading between the lines, it's pretty obvious that the team was not blown away with consensus top players like Edwards and Ball. I also don't think Wiseman is in play, as he'd be a bad fit next to star center Karl Anthony-Towns. So that leaves Deni. He is very much in play to be the 1st overall pick.

Avdija also has caught the eye of the team picking 2nd, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were reportedly "blown away" after bringing him in for a workout recently, according to Ethan Strauss of The Athletic. Krauss states in his article:

"Not only did Avdija perform well in workouts, but Warriors officials were blown away after meeting with him. The universal takeaway was that he's a "great kid" with an immense work ethic."

RISING: Patrick Williams, SF/PF (Florida State)

Originally pegged as a late lottery-late teens pick, Williams has recently shot up draft boards due to his size, athleticism, and potential defensive versatility. His tape shows a fluid jumper that has teams thinking he can be developed into a really good NBA player, and could be a valuable contributor right away. Williams has been drawing a lot of interest from the Spurs (picking 11th) and the Kings (picking 12th), but he's also caught the eye of the Detroit Pistons, who hold the 7th pick in the draft. Bleacher Report's Jonathon Wasserman had this to say:

"I reported weeks ago that Florida State's Patrick Williams was gaining steam as a top 10 pick. We're now hearing he's in play at No.7 to the Detroit Pistons."

RISING: Kira Lewis, PG (Alabama)

Kira Lewis, who I have at number 23 on my big board, was mocked in the 18-25 range all year, but he's been receiving a lot of attention recently from teams picking a lot higher than that. It was reported by Bleacher Report's Jonathon Wasserman that Lewis has had in person workouts with 3 teams in the top 8 (Chicago, Detroit, and New York), as well as with Orlando who picks 15th. Marc Berman of the New York Post also reports that the Sacramento Kings are "very interested" in selecting Lewis with the 12th pick.

It felt like a certainty a month ago that Lewis would be available for a team in the late teens or early 20's, but now I'm not sure he even makes it out of the lottery.

RISING: Jalen Smith, PF/C (Maryland)

Smith would've been a fringe 1st round pick had he entered the draft last year, but he's increased his stock by playing an extra year at Maryland. At the conclusion of the college basketball season, Smith was projected as a late 1st rounder, possibly even a candidate to go in the early 20's. But his stock keeps rising, as he's ranked the 13th best prospect by Bleacher Report and the Ringer, 14th by NBADraft.Net, and 16th by CBS Sports.

Smith has drawn interest from a handful of teams of teams picking in the top 20. The following teams have all inquired about Smith- New Orleans (13), Boston (14), Portland (16), Minnesota (17), Brooklyn (19) and Miami (20).

It's really difficult for me to see a way that Smith doesn't get picked in the top 20 come draft night.

RISING: Zeke Nnaji, PF/C (Arizona)

Zeke Nnaji was a player I had labeled as a surefire 2nd round pick. But after information and videos of his recent workouts have leaked, I'm confident he'll be a 1st round pick.

Nnaji reveled during his predraft interview with the OKC Thunder that he's met with a whopping 22 teams during the predraft process thus far. The Miami Heat reportedly loved what they saw when they brought Nnaji in for a workout, as did the Toronto Raptors.

What may help Nnaji the most is a clip from one of his workouts that has surfaced on Twitter. In this clip, you see the 6'11" Nnaji knock down ten straight catch and shoot NBA 3s, while moving around to different spots. The caption from the tweet, tweeted out by Jonathon Wasserman, states that Nnaji has also interviewed well and that he's "a good bet to go first round."

FALLING: LaMelo Ball, PG (USA/Illwara)

LaMelo Ball, the best player in the draft in my eyes, is reportedly falling out of some teams' favor due to his performance when interviewing.

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer and RealGM have both reported that LaMelo Ball is hurting his draft stock during the interview process. Bonnell had this to say on Sports Radio WFNZ:

"Here is what I'm hearing from the league at large: LaMelo Ball is not performing very well at job interviews. I've heard that from multiple sources." -and adds: 'there are teams later in the top ten who are doing more research on him."

If you've watched LaMelo Ball interview, you would see that he's not great at it. He comes off as carefree, disinterested, and maybe even a little annoyed at times. You may be saying, "who cares?", and some teams might not. But for some, the bad interview could lead them to believing he'll be a bad locker room guy as well. That's especially troubling for a point guard.

In a draft that many teams believe is lacking in star power and is deep outside of the top 5 or 10, this report could be damming for Ball.