ESPN poll: Jabari Parker favored as top pick for NBA draft
Jabari Parker was only 4-for-14 from the field in a season-ending loss to 14th-seeded Mercer. (Lance King/Getty Images)
This college basketball season saw freshmen Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Joel Embiid garnering plenty of hype and attention.
While Duke and Kansas fizzled out in the first and second round round of the NCAA tournament, respectively, all three freshmen are expected to go at the top of the draft. But Parker is apparently the preferred top choice, according to a poll of 30 NBA executives by ESPN's Jeff Goodman.
PARKER: Why I made the difficult decision to leave Duke
Parker, a 6-foot-8 forward, averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for the Blue Devils this season. The Naismith Award finalist shot 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range.
Wiggins averaged 17.8 points and 6.0 rebounds for the Jayhawks, while the seven-footer Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game, shooting 62.6 percent from the field. Embiid missed the final six games of the season with a back injury.
The NBA draft is June 26 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
