Ben Simmons is the top player in the 2016 NBA Draft and he's going to go first overall to Philadelphia. That much seems clear at this point.

However, it's worth noting that coming into the season, this was far from a foregone conclusion.

Kentucky's Skal Labissiere topped the first CBS Sports NBA Draft Big Board of the season, with Simmons coming in at No. 2 and Jaylen Brown sitting at No. 3.

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First CBS Sports NBA Draft Big Board of the season.

CBS Sports

Overall, despite missing on Labissiere at No. 1, that's not too bad of a projection. My current top six players heading into Thursday were all featured in the preseason board's top seven. All of my top nine preseason players have been invited to the NBA Draft's green room. Beyond them, No. 10, Cheick Diallo, No. 14, Furkan Korkmaz, and No. 15, Domantas Sabonis, are solidly projected in the first round, plus Diamond Stone has a shot to end up there if NBA teams like his game more than I do. Really, the only total miss was on Malik Newman, who ended up transferring after not quite fitting in at Mississippi State.

There are quite a few risers worth noting, however. Buddy Hield is the biggest one. Unlike many, I had Hield as a first-round prospect heading into the season. However, at No. 26, there is obviously a relatively large difference there in terms of his performance this season. Brice Johnson moved up from outside of the first round to solidly in my first round, and ditto for DeAndre Bembry at St. Joe's and Tyler Ulis at Kentucky.

The biggest riser though has to be Marquese Chriss, who went from off of my initial board into the top 15 after showcasing his athletic gifts at Washington. Chriss missed the board for the same reason I have him rated lower than most currently: his basketball IQ was a major question despite the athleticism. I thought we were looking at a 2-to-3 year player at Washington that may or may not develop. I also misjudged the full extent of his athleticism at the time, and thought his shooting stroke was a bit worse than he showed this season. Overall, Chriss caught plenty of people by surprise, so I'm not necessarily down about missing on him. Sometimes, that happens.

The international class also took a rather large leap forward this year, and it appears that early in the year I underrated them as a whole in comparison to the weak domestic class. Guys like Timothe Luwawu, Ivica Zubac, and Ante Zizic became nearly assured first round picks after good seasons in the Adriatic League (well, at least for Zizic and Luwawu). Paul Zipser became a legitimate prospect by gaining more time at Bayern. Rade Zagorac was superb at Mega Leks this season in the second half and moved into the top part of the draft. Juan Hernangomez won the ACB's young player of the year award. And while those guys rose, the domestic class fell to earth in what was clearly a down college basketball season. This is why we may see upward of 15 to 20 international players selected on Thursday, and why the draft's domestic class is considered as weak as it is.

Overall, this shouldn't come as a surprise, but building an NBA Draft board is a process that begins years before the actual draft year. Those who work in the industry of creating boards -- both on the team side and in the media side -- have to do their homework years in advance. The sample size is never only the most recent year, even for college freshmen. Then over the course of the year, you hone in and realize who needs to slot in where.

There is one key difference though. Teams have their own specific draft boards based on their own needs. My draft board is more of an amalgamation of all teams and essentially an expected value equation based on a multitude of factors. Who has the highest potential ceiling? The highest potential floor? What are the odds they reach that ceiling? How many different situations do they fit in? My board for the Celtics would look different than my board for the 76ers. and my board for Orlando would look different than my board for San Antonio. In the end, the final product is a mental approximation of all of those boards, and it's what you see below.

Ben Simmons finished out the 2016 NBA Draft Big Board on top. USATSI

Here is my final board for the 2016 NBA Draft.

2016 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings
RankPlayerSchoolYearPOSHGTWGT
1Ben SimmonsLSUFr.SF6-10240
2Brandon IngramDukeFr.SF6-9190
3Kris DunnProvidenceJr.PG6-4220
4Dragan BenderIsrael-PF7-1216
5Jaylen BrownCaliforniaFr.SG6-7225
6Jamal MurrayKentuckyFr.SG6-4207
7Buddy HieldOklahomaSr.SG6-4214
8Jakob PoeltlUtahSoph.PF7-0248
9Deyonta DavisMichigan StateFr.PF6-10240
10Domantas SabonisGonzagaSoph.PF6-11240
11Skal LabissiereKentuckyFr.PF6-11225
12Marquese ChrissWashingtonFr.PF6-9225
13Timothe LuwawuFrance-SG6-7205
14Ante ZizicCroatia-C6-9210
15Ivica ZubacCroatia-C7-0240
16Wade Baldwin IVVanderbiltSoph.SG6-3194
17Henry EllensonMarquetteFr.PF-C6-11245
18Tyler UlisKentuckySoph.PG5-9160
19Denzel ValentineMichigan StateSr.SG6-5220
20DeAndre' BembrySaint Joseph'sJr.SF6-6210
21Brice JohnsonNorth CarolinaSr.PF6-10230
22Paul ZipserGermany-SF6-8210
23Juan HernangomezSpain-PF6-9225
24Taurean PrinceBaylorSr.SF6-8220
25Malik BeasleyFlorida StateFr.SG6-5196
26Furkan KorkmazTurkey-SG6-7175
27Demetrius JacksonNotre DameJr.PG6-1201
28Malcolm BrogdonVirginiaSr.SG6-5215
29Malachi RichardsonSyracuseFr.SG6-6205
30Cheick DialloKansasFr.C6-9220
31Damian JonesVanderbiltJr.PF7-0245
32Dejounte MurrayWashingtonFr.PG6-4170
33Thon MakerAustralia-C7-1218
34Chinanu OnuakuLouisvilleSoph.C6-10245
35Rade ZagoracSerbia-SF6-8205
36Patrick McCawUNLVSoph.SG6-7185
37Ben BentilProvidenceSoph.PF6-9235
38Guerschon YabuseleFrance-PF6-8240
39Georgios PapagiannisGreece-C7-1240
40Petr CornelieFrance -PF6-11220
41Isaiah WhiteheadSeton HallSoph.SG6-4210
42Isaia CordinierFrance-SG6-5190
43A.J. HammonsPurdueSr.C7-0250
44Michael GbinijeSyracuseSr.SG6-7200
45Caris LeVertMichiganSr.SG6-7205
46Stephen Zimmerman Jr.UNLVFr.C7-0240
47Diamond StoneMarylandFr.C6-11255
48Zhou QiChina -C7-2209
49Jarrod UthoffIowaSr.SF6-10221
50Kay FelderOaklandJr.PG5-9176
51Fred VanVleetWichita StateSr.PG6-0186
52Sheldon McClellanMiamiSr.SG6-5200
53Pascal SiakamNew Mexico StateSoph.PF6-9230
54Gary Payton IIOregon StateSr.PG6-3190
55Robert CarterMarylandJr.PF6-9235
56Wayne Selden Jr.KansasJr.SF6-5230
57Jake LaymanMarylandSr.SF6-9220
58Yogi FerrellIndianaSr.PG6-0180
59Joel BolomboyWeber StateSr.PF6-9235
60Anthony BarberNC StateJr.PG6-2190
61Danuel HouseTexas A&MSr.SG6-7212
62Perry EllisKansasSr.SF6-8225
63Damion LeeLouisvilleSr.SG6-6210
64Kyle WiltjerGonzagaSr.PF6-10240
65Shawn LongUL LafayetteSr.PF6-11246
66Isaiah CousinsOklahomaSr.SG6-4200
67Georges NiangIowa StateSr.SF6-8230
68Marcus PaigeNorth CarolinaSr.PG6-2175
69Josh AdamsWyomingSr.PG6-2190
70Ron BakerWichita StateSr.PG6-4210
71Isaiah TaylorTexasJr.PG6-3185
72James Webb IIIBoise StateJr.SF6-9202
73Prince IbehTexasSr.C6-11265
74Andrey DesyatnikovRussia-C7-3230
75Jameel WarneyStony BrookSr.PF6-8260
76Daniel HamiltonConnecticutSoph.SG6-7195
77Julian JacobsSouthern CaliforniaJr.PG6-4180
78Elgin CookOregonSr.SF6-6205
79Troy WilliamsIndianaJr.SF6-7215
80Derrick Jones Jr.UNLVFr.SF6-7190
81Dorian Finney-SmithFloridaSr.SF6-8220
82Marshall PlumleeDukeSr.C7-0250
83Zach AugusteNotre DameSr.PF6-10245
84Alex CarusoTexas A&MSr.PG6-5186
85Gracin BakumanyaFrance-C6-11240
86Isaiah MilesSaint Joseph'sSr.SF6-7216
87Egidijus MockeviciusEvansvilleSr.C6-10225
88Alex PoythressKentuckySr.PF6-8230
89Tyrone WallaceCaliforniaSr.PG6-5205
90Kaleb TarczewskiArizonaSr.C7-0250
91A.J. EnglishIonaSr.SG6-4190
92Tim QuartermanLSUJr.SF6-6190
93Thomas WalkupStephen F. AustinSr.PG6-4195
94Rosco AllenStanfordSr.SF6-9220
95Shevon ThompsonGeorge MasonSr.C6-11243
96Bryn ForbesMichigan StateSr.SG6-3190
97Moussa DiagneSpain-C6-10220
98David MichineauFrance-PG6-3175
99Nathan BootheToledoSr.C6-9250
100Nikola JovanovicSouthern CaliforniaJr.PF6-11235
101Daniel OchefuVillanovaSr.C6-11245
102Nikola IvanovicMontenegro-PG6-3187
103David WalkerNortheasternSr.PG6-6196
104Josh ScottColoradoSr.PF6-10245
105Tonye JekiriMiami (Fla.)Sr.C7-0248
106Brannen GreeneKansasJr.SF6-7215
107Kyle CollinsworthBrigham YoungSr.G6-6215
108Rasheed SulaimonMarylandSr.SG6-4190
109Andrew AndrewsWashingtonSr.PG6-2200
110Shavon ShieldsNebraskaSr.SG6-7225
111Mamadou NdiayeUC IrvineJr.C7-6300
112Wes WashpunNorthern IowaSr.PG6-1175
113Marius GrigonisLithuania-SF6-7202
114Ryan ArcidiaconoVillanovaSr.PG6-3195
115Marvelle HarrisFresno StateSr.SG6-4210
116Marcus Georges-HuntGeorgia TechSr.SG6-5216
117Majok DengLouisiana-MonroeSr.C6-10185
118Ryan AndersonArizonaSr.PF6-9235
119Emmanuel MalouYuba CC-PF6-9210
120Devin WilliamsWest VirginiaJr.PF6-9255
121Retin ObasohanAlabamaSr.PG6-2210
122Stefan JankovicHawaiiJr.PF6-11235
123Jameel McKayIowa StateSr.F-C6-9225
124Alex HamiltonLouisiana TechSr.PG6-4195
125Anthony GillVirginiaSr.PF6-8230