Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and draft expert Sam Vecenie of The Athletic (@Sam_Vecenie) break down the 2020 and 2021 NBA Drafts.
They discuss the unusual lack of trades in the lottery, which teams did best and worst, the incredibly exciting 2021 draft class, takeaways from free agency and much more.
Jonathan Givony has released his first mock draft for 2021 with Cade Cunningham at No. 1. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic also has Cunningham at No. 1 in his first mock, which was also released on Tuesday.
"The race for the No. 1 pick is still fairly open right now, though not quite to the extent that it was in 2020," writes Cunningham.
Cunningham is a big point guard at Oklahoma State with "ideal physical tools, outstanding feel for the game, pick-and-roll savvy and increasingly effective jump shot."
Vecenie writes that Cunningham's shooting has been inconsistent during his career, but "a source at Oklahoma State told me that he’s come to preseason workouts and been the team’s second-best shooter behind 3-point marksman Ferron Flavors."
The main competitors for No. 1 will be Jalen Green and B.J. Boston.
Green will spend the 20-21 season in the G League, while Boston is at Kentucky.
The Golden State Warriors had long targeted James Wiseman with the second overall pick and didn't let the injury to Klay Thompson shift their direction at the draft.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and say that it didn’t cross our minds or my mind,” Lacob said. “(But) that would’ve been going contrary to what our plan was — the No. 1 guy on our board is the guy we drafted, James Wiseman. And I think a lot of people guessed that, the truth. It doesn’t mean that we didn’t have somebody else we liked a lot and that certainly considered very strongly. But that wasn’t our plan and we decided (Thompson’s injury) wasn’t going to change our final decision. We just needed to take the guy we really believed in because you’re also drafting not only for the short term but for the long term."
Lacob said Wiseman was always his top choice.
“To be honest with you, he was my No. 1 forever, basically,” Lacob said. “I just think he’s a once-in-a-decade kind of guy. I would argue that, other than (Joel) Embiid, I don’t know that there’s another center prospect that’s come along in the last decade that you would put in the same category. Different players, maybe. But this guy is immensely talented. …
“When you see him in person, it’s pretty compelling. And when we watched him do his workout, it’s pretty compelling. … Some of the things he does on the court for a guy his size, he’s very mobile, really good ballhandling for someone his size. Anyone who says he can’t shoot is crazy. He can shoot. He’s going to get better; he can shoot. And he’s obviously going to be a very good defender, he’s going to be a rim protector and shot blocker, so there’s a heckuva lot of things to like. And I just think he’s a great fit as well with what we needed and with our team."
The Dallas Mavericks were active in trade talks in an attempt to move up to draft Tyrese Haliburton, who could have been a good fit with Luka Doncic.
"I heard Dallas was up to a lot last night trying to offer 18, 31 and something else, I'm not sure if it was a player or a pick to everyone from, like, seven to 10 to 11," said Zach Lowe on Thursday's podcast. "And I'm pretty sure the target was Haliburton. They were hot on Haliburton. They were offering all of these picks to try to move up and get Haliburton. They didn't get him."
Jonathan Givony of ESPN added that the Mavericks finished second behind the Portland Trail Blazers in trying to trade for Robert Covington.
"Haliburton, they were 100 percent trying to get him," said Givony.
Haliburton was drafted 12th overall by the Sacramento Kings.
The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to trade Landry Shamet to the Brooklyn Nets with the No. 19 pick in the draft going to the Detroit Pistons. The Clippers will receive Luke Kennard from the Pistons as part of the three-way deal.
Los Angeles will also send Rodney McGruder to the Pistons.
Shamet was traded by the Philadelphia 76ers to the Clippers at the deadline in 2019.
The Pistons selected Saddiq Bey of Villanova with the pick.
After weeks of considering trade offers, the Minnesota Timberwolves kept their pick and selected Anthony Edwards first overall.
First Round
1. Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards
2. Golden State Warriors: James Wiseman
3. Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball
4. Chicago Bulls: Patrick Williams
5. Cleveland Cavaliers: Isaac Okoro
6. Atlanta Hawks: Onyeka Okongwu
7. Detroit Pistons: Killian Hayes
8. New York Knicks: Obi Toppin
9. Washington Wizards: Deni Avdija
10. Phoenix Suns: Jalen Smith
11. San Antonio Spurs: Devin Vassell
12. Sacramento Kings: Tyrese Haliburton
13. New Orleans Pelicans: Kira Lewis
14. Boston Celtics (via Memphis): Aaron Nesmith
15. Orlando Magic: Cole Anthony
16. Detroit Pistons (via Portland and Houston): Isaiah Stewart
17. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Brooklyn, Atlanta and Minnesota): Aleksej Pokusevski
18. Dallas Mavericks: Josh Green
19. Brooklyn Nets (from Philadelphia and Clippers): Saddiq Bey
20. Miami Heat: Precious Achiuwa
21. Philadelphia 76ers (from Oklahoma City and Orlando): Tyrese Maxey
22. Denver Nuggets (from Houston): Zeke Nnaji
23. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Utah and New York): Leandro Bolmaro
24. Denver Nuggets (from Indiana, Milwaukee and New Orleans): R.J. Hampton
25. New York Knicks (from Denver, Minnesota and Oklahoma City): Immanuel Quickley
26. Boston Celtics: Payton Pritchard
27. Utah Jazz (from Clippers and New York): Udoka Azubuike
28. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Lakers and Oklahoma City): Jaden McDaniels
29. Toronto Raptors: Malachi Flynn
30. Memphis Grizzlies (from Milwaukee, Phoenix and Boston): Desmond Bane
Second Round
31. Dallas Mavericks: Tyrell Terry
32. Charlotte Hornets: Vernon Carey Jr.
33. Los Angeles Clippers (via New York): Daniel Oturu
34. Philadelphia 76ers: Theo Maledon
35. Memphis Grizzlies: Xavier Tillman
36. Dallas Mavericks: Tyler Bey
37. Oklahoma City Thunder: Vit Krejci
38. Detroit Pistons: Saben Lee
39. Utah Jazz: Elijah Hughes
40. Sacramento Kings: Robert Woodard
41. San Antonio Spurs: Tre Jones
42. Charlotte Hornets: Nick Richards
43. Sacramento Kings: Jahmi'us Ramsey
44. Chicago Bulls: Marko Simonovic
45. Milwaukee Bucks: Jordan Nwora
46. Portland Trail Blazers: CJ Elleby
47. Boston Celtics: Yam Madar
48. Golden State Warriors: Nico Mannion
49. Philadelphia 76ers: Isaiah Joe
50. Atlanta Hawks: Skylar Mays
51. Golden State Warriors: Justinian Jessup
52. Houston Rockets: Kenyon Martin Jr.
53. Washington Wizards: Cassius Winston
54. Indiana Pacers: Cassius Stanley
55. Los Angeles Clippers: Jay Scrubb
56. Charlotte Hornets: Grant Riller
57. Brooklyn Nets: Reggie Perry
58. Philadelphia 76ers: Paul Reed
59. Toronto Raptors: Jalen Harris
60. Milwaukee Bucks: Sam Merrill
The Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors discussed a trade centered on Marcus Smart for the No. 2 overall pick.
Talks fell through for both parties as the Celtics rejected an unknown counteroffer. The Celtics and Warriors are not expected to pick up talks.
Boston is believed to be targeting James Wiseman in the draft and have been trying to trade into the top-3.
The Celtics re-signed Smart in 2018 on a four-year, $52 million deal.
The Orlando Magic have traded the 45th overall pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for two future second round picks.
Milwaukee sent the 24th overall pick via the Indiana Pacers to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the Jrue Holiday trade.
With the Bucks being hard capped this season, they will need to fill the roster with players on minimum contracts.
The Minnesota Timberwolves intend to keep their selection at first overall a secret until the last possible moment in order to generate trade offers.
"What Minnesota plans to do is keep the mystery going all the way until the draft. They want teams to not know who they're drafting because they want to keep those phones ringing all the way until Adam Silver walks up and announces that pick. They want to have a situation where if somebody is trying to trade up for a player at one, two or three, that they don't know what the Wolves are doing and so they're not calling Golden State at two. They have to call No. 1 to make a trade."
The Wolves have most strongly been linked to Anthony Edwards if they keep the pick due to his more logical fit with Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell compared to James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball.
The Golden State Warriors are in a similar position in terms of their interest in trading out of No. 2.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks have received trade interest in their picks at No. 5 and No. 6.
"There are a lot of teams, I'm told, calling Cleveland at five and Atlanta at six, seeing what the price is to get into those spots. So I think those teams are going to field calls all day long," said Adrian Wojnarowski on ESPN.
The New York Knicks are believed to be one of the teams hoping to trade up.
"We've never had so much action tied into such a short window. I think it's going to make for more trades tonight," said Wojnarowski.
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