ESPN's NBA Mock Draft

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~~~(POV: Ulysses Kennedy)~~~

~~~(Date: November 3rd, 2025)~~~

~~~(Time: 3:00 PM)~~~

~~~(Location: Bus, heading to Franklin, Oregon)~~~

Coach Rodgers continues going over the game plan and pointing out weaknesses in Franklin's team. I'm spread out between two seats as I lay down and look up at my phone. "Today, on ESPN, we're doing a mock draft to see where next season's coming players rank." This is the draft that I'm in since I get to skip college and head straight to the NBA.

An ex-NBA player by the name of Richard Jefferson is the one doing the honors of ranking players and where they fall in the draft. The lottery picks are the top 14 players, but we're starting from 30 in the mock first round. "There is a lot of young talent coming to the NBA next season, and many teams are tanking for a chance to grab some of these players." He's not wrong.

Many NBA teams not in the playoff picture are tanking hard for some of the players this year. While I'm going number one, that doesn't mean that the rest of the players in the draft are garbage. "Ulysses, what're you watching?" Tyler, our team's center, peeks his head over the seat in front of me and asks me a question.

I turn my phone and show him. He raises an eyebrow and is about to ask me a question. "Tyler! Pay attention! I'll let you watch and ignore me all you want if you're as good as Ulysses is!" Coach Rodgers doesn't play favorites that hard. He lets me get away with certain things. Watching videos on the bus is one of them. Tyler rolls his eyes and turns back around to Coach Rodgers.

Interrupting isn't such a good idea, so I connect my Bluetooth and place my beats in my ears. Now no one will be curious as to what I'm watching. "Now, let's start this top twenty. This is where it starts to get interesting, and we see the future of the NBA." Many would agree with that statement. The NBA has been thriving as of late, and my draft class is going to be one of the best.

In recent years at the least, the NBA is the most popular sport in the world. While I'm the biggest talent coming to the NBA, there are a lot of talented college players that can hoop. "At number 10, we have William Johns! A future three-point contest winner, in my opinion!" I've seen his college games. He's come a long way in the two seasons he's played in college.

Richard Jefferson continues going up the list and starts to slow down at the number 4th pick. "Now we are getting down to the future superstars of the NBA. At number 4 in the mock draft is Vince Summers! A talented point guard that can do everything a modern point needs to do today!" Vince Summers also has fantastic handles and a great three-point percentage.

Any team that gets him will be in the playoff picture after his rookie season. "At the 3rd pick, we've got Yosef Herd! A 6'8 athletic physical machine that defines the Small forward roll! He's also got a natural shooting touch many his size don't have!" Yosef Herd is one of the college players that trash talks on my highlights on Twitter when people post them.

My Twitter highlights are never posted by me. Posting my own highlights isn't something I do. "The 2nd pick in this mock draft is Dennis Clidemen! A 6'6 two-way player that fills the stat sheet in every category!" Dennis Clidemen is everything that Richard says he is. If he has a comparison, it'd be a Kawhi Leonard. He's also someone that comments on my highlights too.

Richard Jefferson grabs the last name card and slides it in the 1st spot on the mock draft board. "The 1st pick is a player that hasn't been seen in the history of basketball. Ulysses Kennedy can do everything at 7'0 tall. He's the only player that I've seen have perfect games. Whoever gets Ulysses Kennedy is an automatic title contender." That's all very flattering.

I try not to have an ego or be too prideful. Hearing people talk about me like that isn't something I like. I stop watching this segment on my ESPN app and switch to youtube. Epic Music World is one of my favorite channels. The music posted here puts me in a calm mindset and helps me focus on upcoming games. We're about 20 minutes away from Franklin.