2021 NBA draft

2021 NBA draft
General information
Sport	Basketball
Date(s)	July 29, 2021
Location	Barclays Center Brooklyn, New York
Network(s)	ESPN ABC (first round only)
Overview
60 total selections in 2 rounds
League	NBA
First selection	Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons)
← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 NBA draft was the 75th edition of the draft where National Basketball Association (NBA) teams take turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was held on July 29, 2021 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and televised nationally by ESPN, while ABC televised the first round only.^[1] The Detroit Pistons held the right to select the first overall pick and selected Cade Cunningham out of Oklahoma State.^[2]

Draft picks

PG

Point guard

SG

Shooting guard

SF

Small forward

PF

Power forward

C

Center

#	Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game

Rnd.	Pick	Player	Pos.	Nationality[n 1]	Team	School / club team
1	1	Cade Cunningham	PG	United States	Detroit Pistons	Oklahoma State (Fr.)
1	2	Jalen Green	SG	United States	Houston Rockets	G League Ignite (G League)
1	3	Evan Mobley	C/PF	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	USC (Fr.)
1	4	Scottie Barnes	PG	United States	Toronto Raptors	Florida State (Fr.)
1	5	Jalen Suggs	PG/SG	United States	Orlando Magic	Gonzaga (Fr.)
1	6	Josh Giddey	PG	Australia	Oklahoma City Thunder	Adelaide 36ers (Australia)
1	7	Jonathan Kuminga	SF	DR Congo	Golden State Warriors (from Minnesota)[A]	G League Ignite (G League)
1	8	Franz Wagner	SF	Germany	Orlando Magic (from Chicago)[B]	Michigan (So.)
1	9	Davion Mitchell	PG	United States	Sacramento Kings	Baylor (Jr.)
1	10	Ziaire Williams	SF	United States	New Orleans Pelicans (rights traded to Memphis)[a]	Stanford (Fr.)
1	11	James Bouknight	SG	United States	Charlotte Hornets	UConn (So.)
1	12	Joshua Primo	SG	Canada	San Antonio Spurs	Alabama (Fr.)
1	13	Chris Duarte	SG	Dominican Republic	Indiana Pacers	Oregon (Sr.)
1	14	Moses Moody	SG	United States	Golden State Warriors	Arkansas (Fr.)
1	15	Corey Kispert	SF	United States	Washington Wizards	Gonzaga (Sr.)
1	16	Alperen Şengün	C	Turkey	Oklahoma City Thunder (from Boston,[C] rights traded to Houston)[b]	Beşiktaş (Turkey)
1	17	Trey Murphy III	SF	United States	Memphis Grizzlies (rights traded to New Orleans)[a]	Virginia (Jr.)
1	18	Tre Mann	PG	United States	Oklahoma City Thunder (from Miami via Phoenix to Philadelphia to LA Clippers)[D][E][F]	Florida (So.)
1	19	Kai Jones	C	Bahamas	New York Knicks (rights traded to Charlotte)[c]	Texas (So.)
1	20	Jalen Johnson	SF	United States	Atlanta Hawks	Duke (Fr.)
1	21	Keon Johnson	SG	United States	New York Knicks (from Dallas,[G] rights traded to LA Clippers)[d]	Tennessee (Fr.)
1	22	Isaiah Jackson	C/PF	United States	Los Angeles Lakers (rights traded to Indiana via Washington)[e][f]	Kentucky (Fr.)
1	23	Usman Garuba	PF/C	Spain	Houston Rockets (from Portland)[H]	Real Madrid (Spain)
1	24	Josh Christopher	SG	United States	Houston Rockets (from Milwaukee)[I]	Arizona State (Fr.)
1	25	Quentin Grimes	SG	United States	Los Angeles Clippers (rights traded to New York)[d]	Houston (Jr.)
1	26	Nah'Shon Hyland	SG/PG	United States	Denver Nuggets	VCU (So.)
1	27	Cameron Thomas	SG	United States	Brooklyn Nets	LSU (Fr.)
1	28	Jaden Springer	SG	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	Tennessee (Fr.)
1	29	Day'Ron Sharpe	C	United States	Phoenix Suns (rights traded to Brooklyn)[g]	North Carolina (Fr.)
1	30	Santi Aldama	PF/C	Spain	Utah Jazz (rights traded to Memphis)[h]	Loyola (MD) (So.)
2	31	Isaiah Todd	PF	United States	Milwaukee Bucks (from Houston,[I] rights traded to Washington via Indiana)[i]	G League Ignite (G League)
2	32	Jeremiah Robinson-Earl	PF	United States	New York Knicks (from Detroit via Philadelphia to LA Clippers[J][E][K] rights traded to Oklahoma City)[j]	Villanova (So.)
2	33	Jason Preston	PG	United States	Orlando Magic (rights traded to LA Clippers)[k]	Ohio (Jr.)
2	34	Rokas Jokubaitis	PG	Lithuania	Oklahoma City Thunder (rights traded to New York)[j]	Žalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)
2	35	Herbert Jones	SF	United States	New Orleans Pelicans (from Cleveland via Atlanta)[L]	Alabama (Sr.)
2	36	Miles McBride	PG	United States	Oklahoma City Thunder (from Minnesota via Golden State,[A][M] rights traded to New York)[j]	West Virginia (So.)
2	37	JT Thor	PF	United States	Detroit Pistons (from Toronto via Brooklyn,[N] rights traded to Charlotte)[l]	Auburn (Fr.)
2	38	Ayo Dosunmu	PG	United States	Chicago Bulls (from New Orleans)[O]	Illinois (Jr.)
2	39	Neemias Queta	C	Portugal	Sacramento Kings	Utah State (Jr.)
2	40	Jared Butler	SG	United States	New Orleans Pelicans (from Chicago,[O] rights traded to Utah via Memphis)[h]	Baylor (Jr.)
2	41	Joe Wieskamp	SF	United States	San Antonio Spurs	Iowa (Jr.)
2	42	Isaiah Livers	SF	United States	Detroit Pistons (from Charlotte via New York)[P]	Michigan (Sr.)
2	43	Greg Brown	PF	United States	New Orleans Pelicans (from Washington via Utah to Cleveland to Milwaukee,[Q][R][S] rights traded to Portland)[m]	Texas (Fr.)
2	44	Kessler Edwards	SF	United States	Brooklyn Nets (from Indiana)[T]	Pepperdine (Jr.)
2	45	Juhann Begarin	SG	France	Boston Celtics	Paris (France)
2	46	Dalano Banton	PG	Canada	Toronto Raptors (from Memphis via Sacramento)[U]	Nebraska (So.)
2	47	David Johnson	PG	United States	Toronto Raptors (from Golden State via New Orleans to Utah)[V]	Louisville (So.)
2	48	Sharife Cooper	PG	United States	Atlanta Hawks (from Miami via Portland to Sacramento)[W]	Auburn (Fr.)
2	49	Marcus Zegarowski	PG	United States	Brooklyn Nets (from Atlanta)[X]	Creighton (Jr.)
2	50	Filip Petrušev	C	Serbia	Philadelphia 76ers (from New York)[Y]	Mega Basket (Serbia)
2	51	Brandon Boston Jr.	SG	United States	Memphis Grizzlies (from Portland via Cleveland to Detroit to Dallas)[Z]	Kentucky (Fr.)
2	52	Luka Garza	C	United States	Detroit Pistons (from LA Lakers via Detroit to Houston to Sacramento)[AA]	Iowa (Sr.)
2	53	Charles Bassey	C	Nigeria	Philadelphia 76ers (from Dallas via New Orleans)[AB]	Western Kentucky (Jr.)
2	54	Sandro Mamukelashvili	C	Georgia	Indiana Pacers (from Milwaukee via Cleveland to Houston,[R][AC] rights traded to Milwaukee)[i]	Seton Hall (Sr.)
2	55	Aaron Wiggins	SG	United States	Oklahoma City Thunder (from Denver via Philadelphia to Golden State)[AD][M]	Maryland (Jr.)
2	56	Scottie Lewis	SG	United States	Charlotte Hornets (from LA Clippers)[AE]	Florida (So.)
2	57	Balša Koprivica	C	Serbia	Charlotte Hornets (from Brooklyn,[AF] rights traded to Detroit)[l]	Florida State (So.)
2	58	Jericho Sims	PF	United States	New York Knicks (from Philadelphia)[AG]	Texas (Sr.)
2	59	RaiQuan Gray	PF	United States	Brooklyn Nets (from Phoenix)[AH]	Florida State (Jr.)
2	60	Georgios Kalaitzakis	SF	Greece	Indiana Pacers (from Utah,[AI] rights traded to Milwaukee)[i]	Panathinaikos (Greece)

Trades involving draft picks

Pre-draft trades

Prior to the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between teams.

Draft-night trades

Draft-night trades were made after the draft began. These trades are usually not confirmed until the next day or after free agency officially begins.^[71]

Combine

The NBA Draft Combine was held on June 21–27 at the Wintrust Arena and Marriott Marquis in Chicago, Illinois, sponsored by Microsoft. A total of 69 players attended the NBA Draft Combine 2021, with these players undergoing a series of interviews, five-on-five games, drills, and measurements.^[72] Lottery-projected pick Keon Johnson broke the combine's vertical leap record with a vertical leap of 48 in (1.2 m) [previously 45.5 in (1.16 m), held by Kenny Gregory].^[73] The combine also featured some recent graduates of the inaugural NBA G League Ignite team, which is a developmental basketball program meant to provide prospects with a paid alternative to playing NCAA college basketball. The success of these players, Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix, and Isaiah Todd, may pave the way for more top prospects to participate in the G League system pre-draft.

Projected top picks who decided not to attend the NBA Draft Combine include potential No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham and likely top-four pick Jalen Suggs.^[74] Numerous other potential prospects, especially those playing overseas, also decided to skip the Combine.^[74]

The 2021 NBA G League Elite Camp, which took place on June 19-21 at the same site, provided another chance for players not originally invited to the combine to impress scouts. The best performers from this Elite Camp were given invites to the main combine.^[75]

Draft lottery

The NBA draft lottery was held on June 22. It was also televised nationally on ESPN.^[76][77]

Denotes the actual lottery result

Team	2020–21 record	Lottery chances	Lottery probabilities
			1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th
Houston Rockets	17–55	140	14.0%	13.4%	12.7%	11.9%	47.9%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Detroit Pistons	20–52	140	14.0%	13.4%	12.7%	11.9%	27.8%	20.1%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Orlando Magic	21–51	140	14.0%	13.4%	12.7%	11.9%	14.8%	26.0%	7.1%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Oklahoma City Thunder	22–50	115	11.5%	11.4%	11.2%	11.0%	7.4%	27.1%	18.0%	2.4%	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cleveland Cavaliers	22–50	115	11.5%	11.4%	11.2%	11.0%	2.0%	18.2%	25.5%	8.6%	0.6%	-	-	-	-	-
Minnesota Timberwolves[a]	23–49	90	9.0%	9.2%	9.4%	9.6%	-	8.6%	29.7%	20.6%	3.4%	0.2%	-	-	-	-
Toronto Raptors	27–45	75	7.5%	7.8%	8.1%	8.5%	-	-	19.8%	33.9%	13.0%	1.4%	<0.1%	-	-	-
Chicago Bulls[b]	31–41	45	4.5%	4.8%	5.2%	5.7%	-	-	-	34.5%	36.2%	8.5%	0.5%	<0.1%	-	-
Sacramento Kings	31–41	45	4.5%	4.8%	5.2%	5.7%	-	-	-	-	46.4%	29.4%	3.9%	0.1%	<0.1%	-
New Orleans Pelicans	31–41	45	4.5%	4.8%	5.2%	5.7%	-	-	-	-	-	60.6%	17.9%	1.2%	<0.1%	<0.1%
Charlotte Hornets	33–39	17	1.7%	1.9%	2.1%	2.4%	-	-	-	-	-	-	77.6%	13.9%	0.5%	<0.1%
San Antonio Spurs	33–39	16	1.6%	1.8%	2.0%	2.2%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	84.8%	7.5%	0.1%
Indiana Pacers	34–38	12	1.2%	1.3%	1.5%	1.7%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	92.0%	2.3%
Golden State Warriors	39–33	5	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	97.6%

Eligibility and entrants

The draft is conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its players' union, with special modifications agreed to by both parties due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous CBA that ended the 2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft. but called for a committee of owners and players to discuss further charges.

• All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In term of dates, players who were eligible for the 2021 NBA draft must have been born on or before December 31, 2002.
  • This draft could have possibly been the last in which high school players of any nationality are ineligible for pick after graduation as the two associations sought at first to lower the minimum age back to 18 and end the need to wait one year after their high school class graduated, also called the "one and done" requirement, ahead of next year's edition, as discussed in 2019.^[78] If approved, the current CBA may have to be amended and the amendment ratified. However, the ineligibility for the draft shortly after high school remained in place, as reported in 2020, unless there were further discussions about its repeal.^[79]
• Since the 2016 draft, the following rules are, as implemented by the NCAA Division I council for that division:^[80]
  • Declaration for the draft no longer results in automatic loss of college eligibility. As long as a player does not sign a contract with a professional team outside the NBA, or sign with an agent, he retains college eligibility as long as he makes a timely withdrawal from the draft.
  • NCAA players now have 10 days after the end of the NBA Draft Combine to withdraw from the draft. Since the combine is normally held in mid-May, the current deadline is about five weeks after the previous mid-April deadline.
  • NCAA players may participate in the draft combine, and are allowed to attend one tryout per year with each NBA team without losing college eligibility.
  • NCAA players may now enter and withdraw from the draft up to two times without loss of eligibility. Previously, the NCAA treated a second declaration of draft eligibility as a permanent loss of college eligibility.

The NBA announced on February 26, 2021 that for this draft only, all college players who wished to enter the draft, regardless of class, had to formally declare eligibility. In October 2020, COVID-19 led the NCAA to declare that the 2020–21 season would not be counted against the college eligibility of any basketball player. The exact language of the CBA with regard to automatic eligibility of college seniors is "The player has graduated from a four-year college or university in the United States, and has no remaining intercollegiate basketball eligibility." Due to the NCAA ruling, every college senior in the 2020–21 season had remaining eligibility. The league was required to consult with the players' union and the NCAA to determine whether it would require seniors to opt out of the draft (which was implemented by the NFL for its 2021 draft, affected by a similar NCAA ruling for football) or require opt-ins, with the latter option being chosen.^[81]

Early entrants

Players who were not automatically eligible had to declare their eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than at least 60 days before the event. For the 2021 draft, the date fell on May 30. Under the CBA a player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration deadline, which usually falls 10 days before the draft at 5:00 pm EDT (2100 UTC). Under current NCAA rules, players usually have until 10 days after the draft combine to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility. In 2021, however, they must have withdrawn on or before July 7, 22 days prior to this draft.

A player who has hired an agent retains his remaining college eligibility regardless of whether he is drafted after an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. Players who declare for the NBA draft and are not selected have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year only after terminating all agreements with their agents, who must have been certified no later than August 1, 2020.^[82]

The NBA released its official list of early entrants on June 2, 2021, consisting of 296 players from college and other educational institutions and 57 international players.^[83] The current version of the list found in this article omits players who withdrew from the draft after June 2.

College underclassmen

Terrence Clarke, a freshman guard from Kentucky, declared for the draft, but died on April 22, three months before the draft.^[84] At the draft, the NBA honored him with an honorary selection.^[85]

College seniors

"Redshirt" refers to players who were redshirt seniors in the 2020–21 season. "Graduate" refers to players who were graduate transfers in 2020–21.

International players

International players that declared for this draft and did not previously declare in another prior draft could drop out 10 days before the event, on July 19. A total of 51 international players withdrew their names from consideration for the draft, with only the following eight prospects remaining after the international deadline.^[86]

• Juhann Begarin – G, Paris (France)
• Vrenz Bleijenbergh - F, Antwerp Giants (Belgium)
• Biram Faye – C, Girona (Spain)
• Usman Garuba – F, Real Madrid (Spain)
• Josh Giddey – G, Adelaide 36ers (Australia)
• Rokas Jokubaitis – G, Žalgiris (Lithuania)
• Alperen Şengün – C, Beşiktaş Icrypex (Turkey)
• Amar Sylla – C, Oostende (Belgium)

Automatically eligible entrants

Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:

• They have no remaining college eligibility.
• If they graduated from high school in the U.S., but did not enroll in a U.S. college or university, four years have passed since their high school class graduated.
• They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA, anywhere in the world, and have played under the contract.

As noted above, the NCAA's COVID-19 eligibility waiver for 2020–21 resulted in all college seniors having remaining eligibility, leading to the NBA and its players' union agreeing that seniors would have to declare for the 2021 draft.

Players who meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:

• They are at least 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In term of dates players born on or before December 31, 1999 were automatically eligible for the 2021 draft.
• They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA within the United States, and have played under that contract.

Other automatically eligible players

Player	Team	Note	Ref.
Owen Hulland	Adelaide 36ers (Australia)	Left Hawaii in 2020; playing professionally since the 2020–21 season	[87]
Filip Petrušev	Mega Basket (Serbia)	Left Gonzaga in 2020; playing professionally since the 2020–21 season	[88]
Isaac White	Illawarra Hawks (Australia)	Left Stanford in 2020; playing professionally since the 2020–21 season	[89]

See also

• List of first overall NBA draft picks

Notes

References

External links

• Official site