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Especially when draft time rolls around.
On June 26, the NBA will once host one of pro sport's most crucial guessing games.
Usually, most of the future stars are gone by the middle of the first round - so a team's initial pick can greatly lift or sink its hopes.
But if the draft itself is a guessing game, mock drafts are even more of an exercise in throwing darts in the dark - a pre-guessing game.
There's no telling who the Sixers might take at pick No. 16.
General manager Ed Stefanski has said he's keeping his options open. "This draft is deep enough that we think we can get the best player available and pick for a need, too," he said at a recent camp for potential draftees.
And they could trade up or down.
Plus players' stock moves up and down. Last month, Sports Illustrated's Ian Thompson projected small forward Joe Alexander, a West Virginia junior, as the possible Sixers pick. Now, he's changed his mind, and most mocks agree: Forget it. Alexander could go as high as No. 8, one mock says.
Then again, isn't such uncertainty exactly what makes pre-guessing fun?
Here are some shots in the dark by various online mock drafts.
Note: Click the mock draft's name to be linked to its Web site.
Center Kosta Koufos, 7-foot-1, 245 pounds, age 19, Ohio State freshman. "Unless a better option emerges, why not go for a scorer with shooting range to complement Samuel Dalembert?" writes Ian Thompson for Sports Illustrated's Web site, SI.com. (Picks made June 11.)
-- "Extremely high skill level ... fairly mobile, not a stiff ... can create shots for himself ... outstanding shooting touch," says DraftExpress.com (June 3)/
-- "Put up solid numbers that would've been even better if he had someone the caliber of Mike Conley getting him the ball. ... He could potentially emerge as a lottery pick," says Tony Mejia of probasketballnews.com (May 27).
-- Also the projection of mynbadraft.com (June 11).
Will he be there? Yes, says almost all the mocks quoted mentioned by this article.
Center JaVale McGee, 7-0, 237, age 20, Nevada sophomore. Projected as the Sixers pick by three mock drafts: HoopsWorld.com. (June 7), NBAdraft.net (June 2), and probasketballnews.com (May 24).
Will he be there? Almost all mocks say yes.
Center Marreese Speights, 6-10, 245, age 19, Florida sophomore. The Sixers need a "low-post banger," and might go for a veteran like Elton Brand. Speights is an alternative. "He does a lot of the same things that Brand does; he just doesn't have the conditioning or motivation," writes Chad Ford of ESPN.com (June 2).
-- Also projected to Sixers by insidehoops.com (June 6).
Will he be there? Most mocks say yes, although could go as high as 10, says realgm.com.
Will he be there? Nobody else seems to think so. At least four mocks project Jordan to go at No. 10.
Forward/center Robin Lopez, 7-0, 255, Stanford sophomore. "Energetic frontcourt player ... shotblocker ... exceptionally quick to the basket for rebounds, especially on the offensive end," says realgm.com (June 3).
Will he be there? Yes, say almost all the mocks.
Power forward Darrell Arthur, 6-9 , 215, age 20, Kansas sophomore. "Smooth big man with a scoring mentality, and very nice potential both facing and with his back to the basket, said hoopshype.com (June 4). But he's also a "... poor rebounder. Not particularly active - has a tendency to coast too often ... poor passer. Needs to add strength. ... Lots of potential, but will he achieve it?"
Will he be there? More mocks say he'll be gone than say he'll last to 16.
Will he be there? He'll last to No. 16, but not much longer, most mocks agree.
Guard/forward Chase Budinger, 6-7, 190, age 20, Arizona sophomore. Projected by RidiculousUpside.com (May 22).
Will he be there? He will, almost all mocks agree.
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