ESPN insider: Orton, Bledsoe first round picks

For all of you shocked that Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe are probably going into the NBA Draft, be surprised no longer.

Chad Ford, ESPN.com’s NBA Draft insider, has had both of those guys in the first round of his mock draft for a while. But in a posting today, Ford says that Bledsoe could be taken anyway from No. 10 to No. 20 in the draft as the second best point guard available.

Speaking on Orton, he names the Oklahoma City Thunder as high on the center and mentions Orton will probably go in the early 20s (but maybe higher).

As for Patrick Patterson, Ford projects him to go between No. 10 to No. 15. With those numbers, it’ll be hard to see why Bledsoe, Orton and Patterson would pass up the draft. Returning means injury risk and possibly a drop in draft stock.

You have to have an ESPN insider account to see the whole post.