The Rockets will select second, the Cavaliers will pick third, and the Raptors will pick at No.
Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham has established himself as the consensus top player in the draft, and projects as an oversized ball handler who can hit pull-up threes and provide stout defense both on the perimeter and in the paint.
The 2021 NBA Draft will be held on Thursday, July 29 at the Barclays Center in New York City.
Cunningham is perfectly suited for the modern game as a 6’8 ball handling wing who can run pick-and-roll, hit pull-up threes, collapse the defense with his drives to the rim, and have a positive impact on the defensive end.
He answered pre-season questions about his shooting ability by hitting 40 percent of his threes, with a large percentage of them on difficult off-the-dribble attempts that mimicked the type of burden many of the NBA’s biggest stars must carry.
He’ll need to cut back on his turnovers and continue to refine his facilitating chops, but things should get easier as he finds a supporting cast with more shooting than Oklahoma State provided .
While he lacked an aggressive scoring mindset at USC, Mobley is the type of player who can quietly dominate a game on both ends of the floor while making life easier for all of his teammates.
Mobley lacks the bulk to match up with the NBA’s biggest behemoths in the middle , but he is blessed with tremendous lateral quickness and athletic fluidity that feels like a perfect match for a league that demands its big men defend in space.
If Mobley adds strength to his frame and hits his ceiling, he should be an All-NBA caliber big man who brings so much to the table on both ends while not having many major flaws in his skill set.
While that level of premature hype could have suffocated a lesser player, Green has mostly lived up to expectations as he bypassed college to become the big fish on the first ever G League Ignite team.
Green has a lightning-quick first step that allows him to create separation against his man, and he’s started learning how to use hesitation crossovers and deceleration techniques that will only make him tougher to guard.
Suggs wasn’t quite as highly-touted as Cunningham, Mobley, or Green coming out of high school, but he now feels like the most well-known player in this draft class after a breakthrough freshman year playing for a Gonzaga team that finished one win short of a perfect season in the national championship game.
At the start of his career, he might be better used as an overqualified complementary guard who can impact the game in numerous ways rather than as a lead engine in the halfcourt.
Barnes is a huge forward at 6’9, nearly 230 pounds, and with a 7’2 wingspan, who combines an elite defensive motor with shockingly good playmaking for someone his size.
Barnes is a rough shooter — 27.5 percent from three on 40 attempts, 62.1 percent from the foul line on 66 attempts — and doesn’t yet have a ton of tricks around the rim to get a bucket in a pinch.
1 player in the high school junior class before deciding to reclassify and join Green in the G League rather than attend college.
While Kuminga is undoubtedly rough around the edges, his combination of size, straight line speed, and strength gives him upside as a downhill attacker who can get to the foul line and mix in a poster dunk every few games.
The talent that made Johnson a consensus top-10 recruit was on display at times during his brief college career, but Johnson still feels like one of the bigger wildcards in this class.
Johnson is also interesting on the defensive end, where he put up an impressive six percent block rate and 3.1 percent steal rate thanks in part to a 7-foot wingspan.
Along with Jalen Green, Tennessee freshman Keon Johnson has a case as the most explosive natural athlete in this draft class.
There were encouraging signs for the Vols this season, like mesmerizing defensive flashes in that area.
While the 6’6 freshman isn’t the most explosive natural athlete, he’s able to leverage his 7’1 wingspan to bother opposing scorers on one end while also shooting over the top of smaller defenders on the other.
Bouknight is an indefatigable scorer who will whip around screens against a set defense until he finds an opening that will let him create an advantage.
While he’s not the type of guard who create opportunities out of thin air off the dribble, he feels like a nice fit in New Orleans as a supplemental scorer who can create chaos while Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram have the ball.
Wagner has the size to defend at the rim and quickness to switch onto guards, posting a 3.2 percent block rate and 2.3 percent steal rate for the No.
Wagner had a brutal last game for the Wolverines — 1-of-10 shooting in an Elite Eight loss to UCLA — but he has all the makings of a solid NBA role player if his shot improves.
While Springer is typically projected to go outside of the lottery at this stage of the draft process, it feels like he could easily outplay that slot given his high school pedigree, aggressive point of attack defense, and scoring flashes.
Springer will have to learn scoring tricks around the rim and continue to develop as an outside shooter — he made 43.5 percent of his threes on only 46 attempts — but he can slot nicely into most team contexts as a combo guard who can run offense in a pinch, help get the team out in transition, and act as an off-ball scorer.
Mitchell was the big winner of March Madness as he rose from a late first rounder to a lottery pick during Baylor’s run to the national championship.
His 64.1 percent mark from the foul line this year feels like a red flag on the idea that he’s completely fixed his shot, but his ability to pressure the rim gives him another avenue for success on offense if the jumper isn’t falling.
Giddey profiles as one of the best passers in the draft thanks to his combination of size and preternatural feel that allows him to think two steps ahead of the opposing defense.
Giddey has significant athletic and strength limitations and may need to be protected on the defensive end early in his career, but his size, intelligence, and growth curve gives him a bright future.
Jones came off the bench for most of the season with the Longhorns and averaged only 8.8 points per game but his size and explosion jumped off the screen every time he took the floor.
He’ll catch lobs on offense from day one, but he’s also showed flashes of three-point shooting — 38.2 percent on 34 attempts — and ball handling in transition.
The 6’8 wing looked like a tantalizing shot-maker coming out of Sierra Canyon High School, but his freshman year at Stanford was defined by injury and inefficiency.
The 6’10, 240 pound big man averaged 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in the Turkish Super League on remarkable 64.6 percent shooting from the floor.
The 6’8 big man isn’t a big time scorer, but rather a defense-first role player who has the quickness, length , strength, and feel for rotations to turn into a potential stopper on that end.
There’s no denying how uniquely talented he is at creating for his teammates, though, which gives him a great opportunity to outplay this type of draft slot.
Kispert isn’t going to create off the dribble and will have to prove himself defensively, but it’s easy to envision him slotting into a bench shooter role from day one.
He’s already 24 years old and will be the oldest player drafted in this class, but his easy projection to an NBA role makes him a worthy option in the late first.
For a team looking for instant offense off the bench that can tolerate some ball stopping, Thomas’ one-on-one bucket getting ability is worth a chance in the late first or early second.
Jackson would get himself into trouble when he settled for shots away from the rim, but on an NBA team with superior spacing he should be a vertical spacer and rim protector with potential to eventually develop his shot.
While he’ll need to add strength to his frame and prove he can consistently make good decisions in the half court for more creation responsibilities, the versatility of his shooting and ball handling makes him an interesting gamble at this point in the first round.
He has a chance to be an impact defensive forward who can contribute on the glass and score on cuts, but it feels like he’d be in a better spot if he was a little bigger and a little longer to profile as a small ball five.
Ayayi isn’t a brilliant creator off the dribble and will have to add muscle to his frame, but it feels like he can be a nice addition to a Denver backcourt that was ravaged by injuries last season.
Boston’s freshman season was a disappointment, as his lack of strength badly hindered his ability to play through contract and resulted in an ugly 44.7 true shooting percentage.
With a solid all-around skill set, good size, and impressive production playing against grown men in the Adriatic League at such a young age, Prkačin is an ideal draft-and-stash candidate at some point in the late first or early second round.
The 6’5 guard will likely have to transition from the on-ball role he had in college to more of an off-ball complementary role, but he has the frame and scoring instincts to pull it off as long as his three-point shot continues to come around.
This would be a high upside swing at the end of the first round for the Jazz, and Thor’s potential to eventually become a small ball center would make him a nice developmental prospect for the organization.