The 2016 NBA draft isn't until June 23 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but with the lottery order locked in, it's far easier to project where the top prospects might land.At the epicenter of draft debate is the No. 1 pick conundrum the Philadelphia 76ers face. Their options are either Duke forward Brandon Ingram or LSU prodigy Ben Simmons, both of whom are offensive catalysts in their own way with the tools to be superstars.After Ingram and Simmons, the caliber of players takes a bit of a drop, which lends to a few standouts who are particularly polarizing.Below is a mock of the first round, followed by a breakdown of fringe lottery players who could go much higher or lower on draft night depending on which teams fall in love with them.Analysis of Polarizing Prospects14. Chicago Bulls: Skal Labissiere, PF/C, KentuckyOne unproductive college season makesLabissiere a tremendous draft wild card, yet the widespread perception is he'll still wind up in the lottery. He averaged only 6.6 points and 3.1 rebounds to go with 1.6 blocks this past year.In this mock scenario, Labissiere barely cracks the lottery threshold by going to Chicago at 14th overall.The Bulls have aging veteran Pau Gasol armed with a player option this offseason, and Taj Gibson is entering a contract year in 2016-17.Joakim Noah, who is nowhere near the player he once was, has told teammates, per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, that he's not coming back. Chicago needs help in the frontcourt to say the least.But with a stretch 4 in Nikola Mirotic as a good fit for coach Fred Hoiberg's system and a promising first-round pick from last year in Bobby Portis, there's still time for Labissiere to ease his way into the rotation. He'd likely need at least a year, maybe two, to develop into a worthy contributor.A big-market team like the Bulls should be big players in free agency, allowing them to take more of a risk on someone like Labissiere who may need to spend time in the NBA D-League as a rookie. They could also dangle a star like Jimmy Butler as a trade chip to move further up in the lottery.The fact Labissiere is still held in such high esteem despite lackluster numbers at Kentucky shows the type of upside he has. With a deft shooting touch, evident rim-protecting ability and plenty of room to get stronger, it's no wonder Labissiere receives a lot of hype.15. Denver Nuggets: Tyler Ulis, PG, KentuckyAnother former Wildcat is among the draft's hotly debated players, but Ulis is for far different reasons than Labissiere.Unlike the aforementioned big man, Ulis is one of the smallest top-tier draft prospects ever, listed at 5'9" and 160 pounds. That didn't stop him from taking the college basketball world by storm this past year, though.Ulis combined with Jamal Murray to form arguably the country's top backcourt, established himself as an elite perimeter defender and showed an impressive scoring arsenal in addition to being a proficient distributor.Kentucky head coach John Calipari spoke in March about how Ulis exceeded all expectations in leaving college after only two seasons as a much-improved player, per the Courier-Journal's Kyle Tucker: "I'm happy for [Ulis]. When he came here, you had everybody tell me, 'You've got a four-year point guard. Now this is how you should do it.' And, 'He doesnt need to have all pros.' Welp, you were wrong again. I mean, here's this kid that's going to be a pro. He'll be drafted this year, after two years."As Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman explained in the featured video on Ulis, Denver used a lottery pick on Emmanuel Mudiay last year. While Mudiay has a ton of potential still to explore, Ulis is the type of player who can give him the necessary push to expedite his growth and work hard.And it's even possible Ulis could push Mudiay for a starting job, which may not be the case in most other spots he lands due to his size alone.Whatever Ulis lacks in stature, he makes up for with athleticism and lateral quickness, which serves him well as a creator off the dribble and as a defender to stay in front of much bigger counterparts. He averaged 17.3 points, seven assists to only two turnovers and 1.5 steals per contest this past season.The production, tenacity, leadership intangibles and innate chip on his shoulder should spur Ulis on to thrive in the NBA. If he winds up in Denver, he may well earn more early playing time than many expect.16. Boston Celtics: Thon Maker, PF, AustraliaSome may believe this is far too high to take Maker, but the Celtics are in an enviable position with an incredible eight draft picks, including three in the top 23.Boston isn't likely to use all those selections, because it's simply unrealistic to expect most of them to contribute right away. Given the coaching job Brad Stevens has done in guiding the team to the playoffs the past two years, he'd need only about one or two more pieces to move further up the Eastern Conference hierarchy.That's why Maker makes a lot of sense. A legitimate 7-footer with guard-like ball-handling skills and shooting range, the 19-year-old sensation was a somewhat surprising NBA draft entrant.It's feasible the Celtics could grab Maker with the 23rd overall pick, but waiting that long brings about the risk of missing out on him. Stevens likes to have big men who can space the floor and shoot, which is precisely what Maker brings to the table.BasketballInsiders.com's Alex Kennedy saw Boston as a logical destination for Maker:Although he's still undeniably raw, Maker has the ceiling of someone like Simmons and Ingram. Given the trove of assets at general manager Danny Ainge's disposal and the fact Boston will miss out on the aforementioned two elite prospects at No. 3 overall, Maker is well worth the mid-first-round flier.Ainge and Stevens ought to be able to sell top-tier free agents on the open market this summer based on recent results with a limited roster and the franchise's storied history. Those circumstances create even more ideal conditions for a risk-reward draft pick like Maker.
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