The 2011 NBA Draft is just a day away and Tom Ziller of SB Nation has released his latest NBA mock draft (one more is coming on Thursday). This late in the mock draft process, it's nice to see a new name emerge, though how realistic it is one cannot know for sure. Ziller goes with Richmond's Justin Harper:
22. Denver Nuggets: Justin Harper, F, Richmond
Underrated storyline/fear heading into the offseason: the Nuggets might be forced to start Timofey Mozgov and Chris Andersen on opening night. Nene and Kenyon Martin are free agents, and Derrick Favors isn't walking through that door.
Ziller certainly hits a point here about having Andersen and Mozgov starting opening night, but is Harper good value here? In his previous mock earlier in the week, Ziller had Harper got at No. 27 to the New Jersey Nets, and Chad Ford's ESPN Insider mock has Harper off the board at No. 28 to the Chicago Bulls. Jumping up five to six spots is a tall order, but if that's how a team rates a player that's what happens: drafting him where they are, despite other evaluators holding a lower value on the player.
The NBA Draft begins at 5 p.m. MT on Thursday, June 23.