The NBA Draft returns to Brooklyn and Barclays Center on Thursday for the eighth time. Aside from the 2020 draft held virtually, Barclays Center has hosted the event every year since 2013. The draft will begin at 8:00 p.m. with coverage beginning on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ESPN will broadcast both rounds of the draft, while the first round will air on ABC as well.
FIRST UP
The Detroit Pistons have the first pick, followed by Houston, Cleveland, Toronto, and Orlando in the top five. Both the Magic — No. 5 and No. 8 — and the Golden State Warriors — No. 7 and No. 14 — have multiple picks in the top 14.
Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham, G League Ignite’s Jalen Green, USC’s Evan Mobley, Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs, G League Ignite’s Jonathan Kuminga, and Florida State’s Scottie Barnes are the top six picks in NBA.com’s latest consensus round-up of mock drafts. They are among the 20 players reported to be invited to attend the draft in the green room. Others include Baylor’s Davion Mitchell, Connecticut’s James Bouknight, Tennessee’s Keon Johnson, Michigan’s Franz Wagner, and Wake Forest’s Jalen Johnson.
NETS ON THE CLOCK
Brooklyn has four selections available in the 2021 NBA Draft, its own pick in the first round at No. 27 and three second-round picks acquired via trade: No. 44 (from Indiana), No. 49 (from Atlanta) and No. 59 (from Phoenix).
NETS PROSPECT PROFILES
We surveyed the mock drafts dating back through the spring and came up with profiles on nine prospects who drew mentions from multiple publications throughout that span. Here are the nine players, and you can click through to their profiles:
THE LAST WORD
The long mock draft season came to an end this week. After all the versions and iterations, let’s take a look at where the some of the major mocks finally landed — as of Tuesday afternoon — on their projections for the Brooklyn Nets with their first-round draft pick.
- The Ringer: Jaden Springer, Tennessee
- The Athletic: Cameron Thomas, LSU
- ESPN: Tre Mann, Florida
- Sports Illustrated: Miles McBride, West Virginia
NETS TOP 5 DRAFT PICKS
Who are the top five draft picks in Nets history? The list is for players officially drafted by the Nets, not including draft-night trades or deals agreed to before the draft and completed afterwards. It’s also based on their contributions specifically while playing for the Nets.
Buck Williams
The third overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft, power forward Buck Williams was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year after averaging 15.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. He made the first of three NBA All-Star Game appearances that year, then was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1982-83 after averaging 17.0 points and career-high 12.5 points while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. With Williams’ rookie year, the Nets began a string of five straight playoff appearances. He is the franchise leader in games played (635) and rebounds (7,576) and is second in points (10,440), with his name and No. 52 etched on a well-deserved banner in the Barclays Center rafters.
Brook Lopez
Center Brook Lopez played nine seasons for the Nets, more than any player in franchise history, after being drafted 10th overall in 2008 and earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He represented the Nets in the 2013 NBA All-Star Game. Lopez is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 10,444 points and is also No. 1 with 972 blocks. He’s third in Nets history with 4,005 rebounds.
Derrick Coleman
The No. 1 overall pick out of Syracuse in 1990, Derrick Coleman was named to the All-Rookie First Team after averaging 18.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game in 1990-91. He went on to be named to the All-NBA Third Team in both 1992-93 and 1993-94. In 1994, he and Kenny Anderson became the first Nets named to start the NBA All-Star Game. In his five seasons with the Nets, Coleman averaged 19.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
Kerry Kittles
Drafted eighth overall out of Villanova in 1996, Kerry Kittles averaged 16.4 points and 1.9 steals to earn a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Second Team while making 158 3-pointers, a Nets record that would stand for 16 years. Kittles is in the team’s all-time top 10 for games and minutes played. He shot better than 40 percent from 3-point range three times and is second in team history with 687 3-pointers made, third in steals with 803 and eighth in points with 7,096.
Kenyon Martin
In 2000, Kenyon Martin became the second player to be selected with the first overall pick by the Nets. He went on to start 280 of the 283 games he played over four seasons, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2001. Martin was key cog on two NBA Finals teams, leading the balanced offense of the 2001-02 team with 14.9 points. He was selected for the 2004 NBA All-Star Game. With the Nets, he averaged 15.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game.