2023 NBA Mock Draft: Victor Wembanyama goes No. 1, then ...

Smokescreen season is at an all-time high as we are just hours away from the 2023 NBA Draft. As we get ready for Thursday's  events at Barclays Center you can't open Twitter without seeing a report about a certain prospect moving up on boards, a certain team looking to trade a pick, or a player who could potentially have a draft promise already in hand. As a fan it's incredibly exhilarating, but we've learned from years of experience that often those rumors don't amount to much.

Latest NBA Mock Drafts: Boone | Parrish | Cobb | Norlander

With that in mind, I haven't made many changes to my final 2023 NBA Mock Draft. Beyond the Victor Wembanyama lock at No. 1, I still have Scoot Henderson going above Brandon Miller, followed by Amen Thompson and then my draft darling Taylor Hendricks (I explained here why I think Hendricks could be the steal of the draft).

The biggest change was dropping Baylor guard Keonte George from No. 9 down to No. 19. As I explain in his entry, I still love George as a prospect, but I'm just not getting the buzz surrounding him that I expected entering the draft. I also moved up Duke's Dereck Lively II to Dallas at No. 10, largely based on need, while Michigan guard Kobe Bufkin's stock has risen to the point that I've sent him to the Pelicans with the final pick in the lottery. Finally, standout UCLA forward Jaime Jaquez entered the first-round at No. 29, while French G League Ignite prospect Sidy Cissoko falls out.

With that, we close the spreadsheets, shut down the YouTube videos and wait for the real thing to finally take place on Thursday night. Here's my final NBA Mock Draft of 2023.