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2021 NBA Draft

Draft Notes: Bryant, Couisnard, Garuba, Combine

June 4th, 2021 at 9:54am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of South Carolina early entrants have opted to pull out of the 2021 NBA draft and will return to school. Junior forward Keyshawn Bryant and sophomore guard Jermaine Couisnard both announced their intentions on Twitter.

Bryant and Couisnard were the Gamecocks’ second- and third-leading scorers in 2020/21, with Bryant putting up 14.4 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 18 games (27.0 MPG), while Couisnard averaged 10.1 PPG and 3.2 APG, but struggled mightily with his shot (.302/.289/.580).

Their teammate A.J. Lawson, who was South Carolina’s top scorer this season, also entered the draft in April, announcing at the time that he’d be signing with an agent and going pro.

Here’s more on the 2021 draft:

  • Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer has published his first 2021 mock draft. While there are no major surprises at the very top of the draft, O’Connor’s mock has some interesting picks further down in the first round, starting with Baylor guard Davion Mitchell to Golden State at No. 6.
  • Sam Vecenie’s latest big board for The Athletic begins with the usual suspects, but also features Alperen Sengun, James Bouknight, and Josh Giddey in the top 10. Vecenie, who ranked Real Madrid’s Usman Garuba at No. 33 in his last update, moved the Spaniard up to No. 19 this time after talking to sources, referring to him as the draft’s “most impactful defensive player.”
  • Scrimmages will once again take place at this year’s draft combine in Chicago, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report hears (Twitter link). Wasserman says those scrimmages will likely occur on June 24-25 following the initial workouts and drills.
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NBA Announces Initial Early Entrant List For 2021 Draft

June 2nd, 2021 at 10:38am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially released the initial list of early entrants for the 2021 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 353 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 296 are from colleges, while 57 are international early entrants.

That number obliterates the previous record of 236 early entrants, established in 2018. That had been expected, however, since the NCAA gave players an extra year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in seniors having to decide between staying at college for one more season or declaring for the draft as an “early” entrant.

Since well over half of the college early entrants are seniors, there are actually fewer college underclassmen than usual in this initial group of early entrants.

This year’s total of 353 early entrants figures to shrink significantly by July 7 and again by July 19, the two deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like the pool will remain extremely crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants certain to exceed 60, the number of picks in the draft.

Our tracker of early entrants for the 2021 draft now includes seniors and is fully up to date. It can be found right here. It doesn’t include players who are automatically draft-eligible this year. As Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets, that list of auto-eligible players includes the prospects who played for the G League Ignite, such as Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga.

Here are the changes we made to our tracker today:

Newly-added players:

College players:

These players hadn’t previously been included on our unofficial list of underclassmen early entrants and weren’t on the list of senior early entrants that the NBA sent to teams last week.

International players:

These players weren’t previously mentioned on our list of international early entrants. The country listed here indicates where they last played, not necessarily where they were born.

Players removed:

Despite reports or announcements that the players below would declare for the draft, they didn’t show up on the NBA’s official list.

That could mean a number of things — they may have decided against entering the draft; they may have entered the draft, then withdrawn; they may have incorrectly filed their paperwork; or the NBA may have accidentally omitted some names.

In any case, we’ve removed the following names from our early entrant list for the time being.

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Draft Notes: Sherman, Pecarski, Gauzin, More

June 1st, 2021 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

West Virginia guard Taz Sherman has decided not to keep his name in the 2021 NBA draft and will instead return to the Mountaineers, the school announced today in a press release.

Sherman was one of the names on the list of 130+ seniors sent to NBA teams last week. However, rather than go through the full draft process, he has made an early decision to pull out and take advantage of his extra year of NCAA eligibility.

In 28 games (24.3 MPG) in 2020/21, Sherman averaged 13.4 PPG on .413/.359/.873 shooting.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

  • Serbian forward/center Marko Pecarski and French point guard Matthieu Gauzin have declared for the 2021 draft, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Pecarski spent the ’20/21 season with KK FMP in Serbia, while Gauzin played for Champagne Chalons-Reims in France.
  • With the early entry deadline for draft prospects having passed, Jeremy Woo of SI.com takes a look at some of the notable college players who opted to return to school rather than entering the draft pool. Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin, and Colorado’s Jabari Walker are among the players Woo suggests keeping an eye on next season.
  • Mike Schmitz of ESPN (Insider link) considers how certain recent NBA trends, including the success of a smaller guard like Trae Young and the bigger lineups that some contenders have used, could impact prospects in this year’s draft class. Schmitz also explores which non-lottery picks in 2021 could contribute in the postseason a year from now.
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And-Ones: Jokubaitis, Banton, LeBron, R. Paul

May 31st, 2021 at 8:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Point guard Rokas Jokubaitis has declared for this year’s draft, Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas tweets. Jokubaitis is currently ranked No. 42 on ESPN’s Best Available list. Playing for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League and the EuroLeague, the 20-year-old averaged 7.0 PPG and 2.5 APG in 20.9 MPG in 31 games this season.

We have more from the basketball world:

  • Nebraska’s Dalano Banton has declared for the draft, according to his Twitter feed. The sophomore swingman averaged 9.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 3.9 APG last season. Banton played a season at Western Kentucky.
  • LeBron James‘ agent, Rich Paul, explained in a feature written by the New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner why his top client didn’t skip this year’s All-Star Game after expressing dismay about playing the game during the pandemic. “You have to value what drives our business,” Paul said. “All-Star weekend is a very important part of our business. To not have the All-Star Game, or not have all-stars playing in the All-Star Game, I think that would be a form of doing bad business. You don’t have to like it, and you don’t have to always feel up to doing something.”
  • In the same piece, a current NBA general manager said James’ decision to leave Cleveland for Miami, which ushered in an era of player empowerment, was the “worst thing” to happen to not only the NBA but sports in general. “Player empowerment is a catchall for the fact that the league has done a terrible job of empowering teams,” he said. “The players have all of the leverage in every situation. I think it’s the worst thing that ever happened to professional sports on all levels.” 
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Jared Butler, Others Enter 2021 NBA Draft

May 31st, 2021 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of Sunday’s early entry deadline, Baylor junior guard Jared Butler announced (via Twitter) that he was declaring for the 2021 NBA draft. While his announcement doesn’t explicitly state that he’s forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility, it strongly suggests he intends to go pro.

While it took a while for him to make it official, Butler was always considered a good bet to enter this year’s draft following an impressive 2020/21 campaign in which he averaged 16.7 PPG, 4.8 APG, and 2.0 SPG on .471/.416/.780 shooting in 30 games (30.3 MPG) for the eventual national champs.

A consensus first-team All-American, Butler was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player after the Bears defeated Gonzaga in the championship game. He’s the No. 23 prospect on ESPN’s big board, making him a strong candidate to be a first-round pick in July.

Here are a few more draft-related updates:

  • Fresno State sophomore guard Deon Stroud is testing the draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility, according to an announcement from the school (Twitter link). Stroud, who began his college career at UTEP, averaged 12.2 PPG on .482/.357/.613 shooting in 23 games (23.1 MPG) in 2020/21.
  • Italian wing Gabriele Procida has declared for the draft, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, who tweets that the 18-year-old is a projected second-round pick.
  • Givony also published a series of tweets listing several more international players who have entered the 2021 NBA draft pool. Those players are as follows (the countries listed represent where they last played, not where they were born):
  • Since the NBA’s early entry deadline has now passed, we should get a full, official list of early entrants from the league on Tuesday. In the meantime, our unofficial tracker is here.
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Draft Notes: Njie, Chougkaz, Alocen, Diop, Diouf, Camara

May 30th, 2021 at 7:34pm CST by JD Shaw

International point guard Barra Njie is declaring for the 2021 NBA Draft after spending last season in Sweden, agent Jerry Dianis told Hoops Rumors.

The 6’3″ Njie was the Rookie of the Year in the Swedish Basketball League, averaging 17.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. His impressive athleticism and crafty scoring ability are two intriguing pieces of his game, possessing a 6’10” wingspan at just 20 years of age.

Njie attended St. Benedict’s Preparatory School before heading overseas. He was also teammates with Precious Achiuwa in 2018-19. Achiuwa was drafted No. 20 overall by Miami in last year’s event.

Here are some other draft decisions announced today:

  • Greek forward Nikos Chougkaz has declared for the draft, as relayed by Sportando. Chougkaz plans to keep his name in this year’s pool after averaging 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game with Ionikos in the Greek Basket League last season.
  • Spanish senior national team guard Carlos Alocen has also declared for the draft, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets. Alocen appeared in 63 games for Real Madrid during the Euroleague, ACB and domestic cups this past season.
  • In addition to Njie, Chougkaz and Alocen, Italian-based players Ousmane Diop, Mouhamet Diouf and Gora Camara have also declared for the draft, Givony reports (via Twitter). The deadline for early entrants to declare for the draft is Sunday night at 11:59pm ET. This year’s draft is set to be held on Thursday, July 29.
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Jalen Green Believes He Should Be No. 1 Draft Pick

May 29th, 2021 at 8:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jalen Green doesn’t lack confidence when talking about his draft prospects. In an interview with Farbod Esnaashari of Bleacher Report, Green discusses his experiences with the G League Ignite, his decision to skip college basketball, and how he thinks he measures up against the rest of the 2021 draft class.

“I didn’t really start paying attention to it until after the (G League) bubble,” Green said. “I just felt like I should be No. 1 because I work harder than a lot of the dudes in my class. That’s the only reason. It’s not something that could have been or should have been; it’s just because I work harder.”

Green was a basketball pioneer along with Ignite teammates Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd, and Daishen Nix, who all sought an alternative to the traditional path to the NBA. They got to play alongside veterans such as Jarrett Jack and Bobby Brown while being coached by Brian Shaw.

During his time in the G League, Green was a dedicated student of game film. He paid particular attention to high-scoring guards Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine, whom he hopes to emulate, along with legends such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Green said Jack and Brown were especially helpful in offering tips about the pro game.

Green touches on several other subjects in the wide-ranging interview:

His advice to other high school stars who are considering the G League:

“I would say to, for sure, do it. If their goal is to get to the NBA and they’re one of the top kids in the country, I would say for sure. You’re going to pick up on things early, you’re going to be ahead of schedule, you’re just going to learn how to be an overall pro. This year was the first year (of the G League Ignite), so I’m sure the next years are going to get better and better.”

How the league prepared him for the NBA:

“I think it was overall a great experience. I learned a lot, I learned how to be a pro early. I was put in a pro setting. Improved my pro habits on and off the court. I feel I just got overall better. The young guys that were there got overall better too. It was just a great experience overall.”

What he learned by playing for Shaw:

“I think I learned a lot from B-Shaw. We were playing in the triangle offense, so that was an offense with a lot of vets put in. So that was cool learning that. I just got to pick his brain a lot about Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird and Shaq. We watched a lot of film. B-Shaw helped me a lot.”

The incentive that came with trying to be the top overall pick:

“For me, it’s like a motivation thing. Just because, at first I wasn’t even talked about going No. 1 because of the route I took. It was different, and I was off the map for a little bit. Even after the bubble, they still were talking about that. Just seeing that now is more motivation. I feel like that’s where I should have been. It’s a dream come true for sure; it does give me butterflies.”

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Draft Notes: Maker, Hamilton, Riley, Green

May 28th, 2021 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Howard University freshman big man Makur Maker has declared for the draft but hasn’t hired an agent, leaving open the possibility of returning to college, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. Maker, 20, played only two games for the Bison last season because of a groin injury, averaging 11.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 2.0 APG. The team played only five games before the university shut down the season due of COVID-19 issues. Maker is listed at No. 100 on ESPN’s Best Available list.

We have more draft decisions and news:

  • UNLV’s Bryce Hamilton will remain in the draft process but plans to return to school, Jeff Goodman of Stadium tweets. The Rebels guard averaged 17.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 3.0 APG last season as a junior.
  • UCLA’s Cody Riley will also enter the draft while retaining his college eligibility, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Riley, a junior forward, had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Gonzaga in the Final Four. In 31 starts last season, he averaged 10 PPG and 5.4 RPG. “I’ve encouraged Cody to take advantage of this time and this evaluation process. I know that he wants to see where he fits at the next level and where he needs to improve,” coach Mick Cronin told the Associated Press.
  • Cade Cunningham sits atop Jonathan Wasserman’s big board but the Bleacher Report analyst has a mild surprise in the No. 2 slot, with Jalen Green ranking above Evan Mobley. Jalen Suggs is a close fourth in Wasserman’s rankings.
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Projected Lottery Pick Isaiah Jackson To Stay In Draft

May 28th, 2021 at 4:02pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Kentucky freshman power forward Isaiah Jackson will remain in the pool for the 2021 NBA draft, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

The 6’10” Jackson could be a late-lottery pick. The 19-year-old is projected as the No. 11 selection on ESPN’s big board. Givony adds that Jackson has hired an agent, and will forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility for an opportunity at the next level.

“All the feedback from teams has been good,” Jackson told ESPN. “People are saying lottery, which is what I wanted. That’s one of the main reasons I’m declaring, so my agent can get involved and speak on my behalf in terms of negotiating and making sure he can get me to the right team.”

“I want to do camps and autograph signings to get some money in my pocket,” Jackson added. “In order to set that up I need to be fully declared.”

During his lone college season with Kentucky, Jackson averaged 8.6 PPG (on 55% field goal shooting), 6.6 RPG and 2.1 BPG across 21 minutes per contest. Givony notes that the athletic Jackson’s growth during the season as a rim runner and pick-and-roll finisher bodes well for his two-way potential.

On defense, Jackson was an excellent rebounder and boasted an elite 12.7% shot-blocking percentage that put him in the heady company of recent Wildcats-turned-pros Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel. Jackson made the All-Freshman and All-Defensive SEC teams for the 2020/21 season.

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Possible Lottery Pick Usman Garuba Enters 2021 Draft

May 27th, 2021 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Usman Garuba, a 19-year-old big man from Spain, has entered the 2021 NBA draft, a source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

Garuba, who is currently a member of Real Madrid, has averaged 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 36 games (18.7 MPG) this season in Spanish League play.

While those numbers don’t jump off the page, Givony notes that Garuba played some of his best basketball during the EuroLeague playoffs, including a 24-point, 12-rebound showing vs. Anadolu Efes. The youngster also earned the EuroLeague’s Rising Star award for the 2020/21 season.

Givony, who ranks Garuba 15th overall on ESPN’s big board of 2021 prospects, suggests the 6’8″ forward/center – who has a 7’3″ wingspan – may be the most versatile defender in the 2021 draft class, having shown an ability to defend guards, forwards, or bigs. NBA scouts have compared Garuba to players like OG Anunoby and P.J. Washington based on that versatility, Givony says.

Josh Giddey and/or Alperen Sengun will be ahead of him on many draft boards, but Garuba is a legit candidate to become the first international prospect selected in July’s draft.

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