The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.
The 2021 NBA draft has come and gone but the draft cycle still continues for a bit longer as the undrafted free agents find their new homes.
While the following prospects didn’t get to hear their name called by the commissioner or deputy commissioner on Thursday night, they can find solace in the fact that their path to the pros is far from over. It’s not unheard of for an undrafted free agent to carve out a role for themselves in the NBA.
Some notable names, including Gonzaga’s Joel Ayayi and G League Ignite’s Daishen Nix, will join the fraternity of undrafted basketball players who hope to still make a name for themselves in the NBA.
Here is where the best remaining prospects have landed so far, according to reports:
Who owns the most real estate on Davion Mitchell Island? Who is buying stock in Sharife Cooper?
Everyone loves Cade Cunningham. It’s not a hot take for an analyst to say that Cunningham is their favorite player in the class. That’s not particularly interesting to read, either.
But what is fascinating, however, is when an analyst deviates from the norm and ranks someone significantly higher than where the prospect falls in other rankings. What does that tell us about their individual scouting process and what they value? Further, what does that tell us about the potential draftee?
Some folks call it “buying stock” in a player. Others, like ESPN’s Zach Lowe or The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, call it owning real estate on a player’s island. I like to refer to it as a “draft crush” when I wind up higher than consensus in my evaluation of a player.
My process is ridiculously tedious but the results can be fairly useful. I’ve tracked the evolution of more than sixty unique mock drafts, big boards and draft models from trusted analysts and popular accounts on Twitter.
Each placement is assigned a value based on Kevin Pelton’s draft pick trade value chart. I do this because, as Pelton notes, the difference in relative value between the No. 5 overall pick and the No. 7 overall is much more stark than, say, that of the No. 45 pick and the No. 47 pick.
After composing an aggregate score based on each ranking, I can see where each analyst strays from the pack.
I’ll leave the conclusions drawn from these results up to the reader. But if nothing else, this can eventually be used as a bragging point if one writer was higher than consensus on a draftee who eventually ends up outperforming his draft position.
With just over a week left until the 2021 NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year!
With just over a week left until the 2021 NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year!
That means that after a slew of surprising early entry withdrawals impacted the worlds of both college and international basketball, the next generation of NBA talent is getting closer to entering the league. As players finalize their place on big boards in front offices, I wanted to offer my opinion on how I think those rankings should look.
Note that our list is certainly going to look different from the lists at ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report and other publications. Player evaluation is an inexact science. Part of the process is being willing to admit when you were wrong about a player.
But avoiding group-think and ending higher than consensus on a player is how an NBA team ends up selecting them in the draft. With that in mind, here is who I would target if I were running a front office.
Hyland and Murphy were among six prospects on Saturday to participate in pre-draft workouts with the Lakers.
VCU guard Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland and Virginia guard Trey Murphy III were among six prospects on Saturday to workout with the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced.
Hyland was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year last season after averaging a league-high 19.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He scored 30 or more points on three occasions last season and was in double figures in 22 of 23 contests.
Meanwhile, Murphy averaged 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 25 games last season. He shot 50.3% from the field and 43.3% from 3-point range, ranking seventh among all ACC players in 3-pointers made (2.1) per game.
In addition to Hyland and Murphy, the Lakers also brought in Oklahoma guard Austin Reaves, Stanford forward Oscar Da Silva, Michigan guard Chaundee Brown Jr. and NC State forward DJ Funderburk.
Los Angeles enters the draft with just one current pick, the 22nd overall selection. Certainly, Hyland and Murphy project to be available in their range and could be potential options to consider when they are on the clock on July 29.
The Lakers have been heavily linked to guards in mock drafts, which would help add depth to the backcourt. The future of Dennis Schroder in L.A. is not certain and they could elect to take a guard as some insurance in case they cannot come to terms with him in free agency.
In any case, it will certainly be worth watching how the Lakers handle the draft as they look to regroup following an early first-round exit in the playoffs this year.
NCAA prospects have until April 26 to declare early entry for 2020 NBA Draft. There are several notable prospects who could join this class.
NCAA prospects have until next week to declare early entry for 2020 NBA Draft. There are several notable prospects who could join this class.
Two freshmen (Precious Achiuwa and Jahmi’us Ramsey) are widely projected as first-round prospects. Meanwhile, three sophomores (Isaiah Joe, Aaron Henry and Joel Ayayi) typically appear on mock drafts.
Others who are likely Top-100 prospects: Romeo Weems, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Filip Petrusev, Joe Wieskamp, Corey Kispert, Terrence Shannon Omer Yurtseven, Yves Pons, AJ Lawson, Charles Bassey, Anton Watson and Miles McBride.
Below is a list reviewing all of the key players in college basketball who have yet to make a public decision about their NBA futures, even if it is simply just to test the waters so long as they already applied to receive feedback from the Undergraduate Advisory Committee before April 16.
