Both projected to be first-round picks in June's NBA draft, Malaki Branham could wind up in Cleveland as a lottery pick while E.J. Liddell may go in the top 25.
The lottery balls have fallen into place, the draft order is set and the combine is in the books. The NBA draft is now under a month away and two former Buckeyes are expected to hear their names called before the first 30 picks are in on June 23.
Per most prognosticators, Malaki Branham and E.J. Liddell are slated as virtual first-round locks, which would give Ohio State its first Round 1 draft choices since D’Angelo Russell in 2015 . Branham and Liddell are in line to be Chris Holtmann’s first-ever first-round draft picks, a noteworthy benchmark in its own right that he hopes will pay dividends for his program down the line. “It’s certainly an important moment for us to have a couple guys drafted this year,” Holtmann said when Branham officially announced his intentions to remain in the NBA draft process back in late April. “There's no question it’s important. It’s something we want to see on a consistent basis, and we hope that this is the beginning of that.”On Verge of Producing First-Ever First-Round NBA Draft Picks, Chris Holtmann Calls It “An Important Moment” For His Ohio State Program The only thing that halted Branham from definitively deciding to leave the Ohio State program earlier in the offseason was the question of whether or not he would be a first-round pick, and it’s clear he received all necessary assurances not long thereafter. Neither Branham nor Liddell played in the five-on-five scrimmages at thein Chicago during the latter half of the week, which was just another indication that both feel confident about their standing. But which NBA team exactly each Buckeye might land still remains up for debate for the time being, with just over four weeks remaining for players to jockey for position on draft boards around the league. To get a better look at where both former scarlet and gray standouts might end up as they make the jump to the next level, we surveyed several mock drafts to try and triangulate a consensus range for each player.
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