If there ever was a city that could handle high-powered star wattage, it’s Las Vegas, the Entertainment Capital of the World.
When the Pac-12, in a moment of ingenuity for commissioner Larry Scott, moved the conference tournament from the emptiness of Staples Center in Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Arena in Vegas, the conference wasn’t exactly top-heavy with stars.
That year, just three players from the Conference of Champions were NBA first-round picks, and only one (UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad) was a lottery pick. Even so, the event was a huge draw, powered by Arizona fans turning MGM into the Las Vegas McKale Center, and continued to grow each year.
The event became big enough that, this year, it has moved to the much-larger T-Mobile Arena, now located across the street by the New York New York hotel.
The bigger arena is fit for a Pac-12 Conference in 2017 filled with star power, the most in the Vegas Tournament’s five-year history.
The latest mock draft on DraftExpress includes 10 projected draft picks in 2017, five of them first-rounders and three as top-10 picks. Beyond that, DraftExpress also projects eight additional current players as draft picks in 2018.
Although, unfortunately, the biggest draw might not even play — Washington’s Markelle Fultz, the presumptive No. 1 draft pick, is expected to sit out to avoid further injury problems.
Even without Fultz, there will be no shortage of stars this week in Las Vegas. Here’s a look at the 10 of the best:
