NBA Draft

Tom Dowd

The Brooklyn Nets introduced Cameron Thomas to their home at HSS Training Center on Friday and Thomas introduced himself to Nets fans, taking their questions via a Reddit AMA and an Instagram Stories Q&amp;A.

As the first of five players selected who are bound for Brooklyn, Thomas was taken with the Nets’ first-round pick at No. 27. The Nets added a second first-rounder in agreeing in principle to a trade with the Phoenix Suns to acquire the draft rights to the 29th pick, North Carolina center Day’Ron Sharpe.

In the second round, Brooklyn added Pepperdine’s Kessler Edwards, Creighton’s Marcus Zegarowski, and Florida State’s RaiQuon Gray.

Thomas, a 6-foot-4 guard, played one season at LSU, averaging 23.0 points and earning All-SEC First Team honors.

On Friday, Thomas got his first look at Brooklyn’s practice facility, checking out the bright, expansive practice court and stepping up onto the building’s rooftop deck.

During his IG Q&amp;A, Thomas was asked what he could bring to a team with championship goals for the upcoming season.

“I’m just going to be able to bring scoring, scoring off the bench,” said Thomas. “You can never have too much scoring so me being able to score with those four guys, you can never have too much scoring in the NBA. I’m also going to bring playmaking with the ball in my hands. If those guys need a break, I can do that.”

He’s looking forward to getting started on his NBA journey with a team that he followed closely over the past season. Thomas said on draft night that James Harden was his favorite current player and he’s looking forward to playing with and learning from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

“I feel like I’m gonna fit in just fine,” said Thomas, “just me being a gym rat and me loving being in the gym, work on my craft, so I feel like just me just loving being in the gym can fit in real well with this squad so I can’t wait.”

Off to his Reddit AMA, Thomas covered a little bit more ground. He’s listening to NBA Youngboy, Pop Smoke, Biggie and Tupac. His favorite SpongeBob SquarePants character is Squidward. He rates the best games of his season at LSU as contests against Michigan, Texas A&amp;M, Mississippi State, and St. Bonaventure.

For sneakers, he’ll wear any of the Kobe Bryant models and calls Bryant his favorite all-time player.

“He inspired me to be great every day and I tried to imitate him any way I could on or off the floor.”

Even after Thursday night’s NBA Draft and Friday’s visit to HSS Training Center, Thomas is still getting used to the idea that he’s now an NBA player.

“Not yet. It probably won’t sink in until the first Summer League game or once training camp starts.”

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Cameron Thomas Introduces Himself to Brooklyn Nets Fans

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Draft Night with Cameron Thomas

It was a busy evening for the Brooklyn Nets as the NBA Draft returned to Barclays Center, with general manager Sean Marks and his staff coming away with five selections. That included one more pick than they were originally slated to have, with the Nets agreeing in principle to a trade with the Phoenix Suns to acquire the draft rights to the 29th pick, North Carolina center Day’Ron Sharpe.

With their own first round pick at No. 27, the Nets selected high-scoring guard Cameron Thomas out of LSU.

“Ecstatic to have them first and foremost,” said Marks. “We know those guys very, very well, very comfortable with who they are both as pull and how they'll fit in from a system fit and so forth. With Cam first and foremost, incredible scorer, shooter, really enjoyed getting to know him and I think he's a fit with what we're doing moving forward. And Day'Ron, his size, mobility, his ability to stretch the floor, which to be quite frank hasn't been really seen yet, so we're excited to get both these guys in the gym, both continue to develop with our development coaches and go from there.”

Both Thomas and Sharpe are young players — 19 years old and turning 20 in the fall — coming off a single college season and each was among the top high school recruits in the country a year ago at elite prep programs.

A 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard, Thomas opted for LSU after starring at Oak Hill Academy and he jumped into a lead role for the Tigers averaging 23.0 points per game to earn All-SEC First Team honors. Thomas started all 29 games and shot 40.6 percent overall and 32.5 percent from 3-point range.

“I think he has an elite skill,” said Marks. “You watch him play, you watch him find his shot, create his shot, that's at a very, very high level. For him to continue to learn from — as you mentioned — maybe three of the greatest scorers the league has right now will be great for him. The other part of it is he is fearless. He's not afraid. And I think that's what we're looking for. We're looking for guys that are competitive, have that edge to them and a chip on their shoulder and I think that's what we found with both those players specifically in talking to them, watching them play, watching them compete at a very, very high level.”

Thomas was on site at Barclays Center among the players invited to the draft and said afterward that he had an early workout with the Nets and then a follow-up interview a week ago. He called James Harden his favorite player and said he’d been watching the Nets frequently the past season and is looking forward to learning from Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant.

"I'm here to bring a great attitude, being a great teammate, scoring power, just an all-around player,” said Thomas. “Scoring power, playmaking, defense, rebounding — whatever the team needs, I'm bringing that. I feel like Brooklyn made a really good choice picking me."

Sharpe was an equally coveted high school prospect after playing at high-powered Montverde Academy in Florida alongside two of Thursday night’s top four picks, Cade Cunningham and Scottie Barnes. A McDonald’s All-American, Sharpe also played travel ball under the tutelage of coach David West, a former teammate of Durant’s with the Golden State Warriors.

At 6-foot-11 and 265 pounds, Sharpe is a high-end rebounder and finisher. He averaged 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game at North Carolina.

In the second round, the Nets selected Kessler Edwards with the 44th pick, Marcus Zegarowski with the 49th pick, and RaiQuan Gray with the 59th pick.

Edwards is a 6-8 wing who played three seasons at Pepperdine, averaging 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds to earn All-WCC First Team honors last season. Over three college seasons, he shot 39.5 percent on 3-pointers on 4.1 attempts per game.

Zegarowski was a three-year starter at point guard for Creighton, averaging 14.1 points and shooting 42.3 percent from 3-point range. He is the younger brother of Orlando guard Michael Carter-Williams, the 2013-14 Rookie of the Year.

With the next-to-last selection of the night, the Nets took Florida State forward Gray, who played three seasons for the Seminoles. Gray averaged 11.9 points and 6.4 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per game last season.

“Kessler, Macrus, RaiQuan we know all three of them very well,” said Marks. “This is what we're doing our job for, we've scouted them. We've seen them live. We really enjoyed sitting down and meeting with these guys. Again, all three very competitive, all three high upside. We enjoyed watching Kessler, his ability to stretch the floor, get out there a positional need for us. Looking forward to develop all three. Marcus, I'm sure you guys have seen him shoot and play at Creighton, and what his ability is can really stretch the floor. Again, a fierce competitor, very tough individual. RaiQuan is a very unique player, step out on the court, stretch the floor some, facilitate as a big, handle the ball. And if you've watched him play at Florida State, very well coached, a high, high basketball IQ. So we're really looking forward to getting those guys in the Summer League program with us.”

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Cameron Thomas Leads Brooklyn Nets 2021 NBA Draft Class

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.

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.

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).

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Brooklyn Nets 2021 NBA Draft Preview: Back at Barclays Center

Ahead of the July 29 NBA Draft, we’re taking a look at potential Brooklyn Nets draft picks with players that have been projected for the Nets through mock drafts. Analysis of individual players has been drawn and summarized from these external media outlets and does not reflect the views of the Brooklyn Nets.

Auburn freshman JT Thor surprised some draft followers when he opted for the 2021 NBA Draft rather than playing another season of college ball.

ESPN projected Thor to Brooklyn in its June 29 mock draft update.

Born in Nebraska to parents from South Sudan, Thor grew up in Alaska, then moved to West Virginia — where his brother was attending college — when it was time for high school. One of the country’s top high school recruits — consensus top 10 for his position of power forward — the 6-foot-10 Thor opted for Auburn. He’s still just 19 years old and will turn 20 at the end of August.

Thor started all 27 games in his lone season at Auburn, averaging 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 23.0 minutes per game.

Thor’s single college season didn’t expose any major flaws, as sometimes happens with highly regarded prospects who go the one-and-done route. All the foundational pieces are there, but he still projects as a long-term developmental project who is likely to be best served playing the upcoming season in the G League. Thor needs to bulk up his 205-pound frame, but he’s been measured with a 7-3 wingspan and 9-2 standing reach. He’s fluid and active, athletic with good instincts for defending off the ball and protecting the rim. His shooting mechanics are sound and he impressed in that area at the NBA Draft Combine, offering stretch-4 potential.

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Brooklyn Nets Draft Prospect: JT Thor

Oklahoma guard Austin Reaves could be an option for the Brooklyn Nets with one of their three second-round picks.

In their late-June updates following the draft lottery, both ESPN and TANKATHON projected Reaves for Brooklyn in the second round; ESPN at No. 49 and TANKATHON at No. 59.

Reaves is a draft rarity: a 23-year-old, fifth-year senior. Going into college he drew mid-major and low-major interest despite a high-scoring high school career in which he once scored 73 points in a game. He opted for Wichita State, by far the highest profile scholarship offer he received, but transferred to Oklahoma after two seasons. Sitting out a year due to transfer requirements, Reaves worked on his 6-foot-5 frame and his game, putting on 20 pounds to get up over 200. He grew up in Arkansas, where both his parents starred in basketball at Arkansas State.

Reaves started all 56 games he played at Oklahoma, making the All-Big 12 First Team last season after averaging 18.3 points and 4.6 assists. He scored 27 points in an NCAA Tournament loss to No. 1 seed Gonzaga.

Reaves arrived on the college scene as a shooter, but after shooting 45.1 percent from 3-point range over two seasons at Wichita State made just 27.7 percent of his threes over two seasons at Oklahoma. But he also unveiled an expanded game in which he excelled in getting to the rim and finishing after bulking up. Reaves took the reins of the Oklahoma offense and was a smooth ball-handler and fluid shot creator with excellent reading of defenses.

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Brooklyn Nets Draft Prospect: Austin Reaves

A major recruit out of high school in 2018, Charles Bassey dominated at mid-major Western Kentucky and falls in the range of Brooklyn’s late-first round, mid-second round picks.

Both ESPN and NBADRAFT.NET projected Bassey to the Nets with Brooklyn’s first-round pick, while USA TODAY had the Nets taking him with the first of their three second-round picks at No. 44.

Bassey has been playing basketball for less than a decade after starting with soccer while growing up in Nigeria. Two years after he first took up the sport, he starred at Masai Ujiri’s Giants of Africa camp and moved to the Unites States at age 14 to attend high school, where he immediately became a national-level recruit. ESPN had him as the No. 18 high school prospect in the country when he reclassified to the class of 2018 and committed to Western Kentucky after just three years of high school.

Bassey starred immediately at Western Kentucky, though he missed his sophomore season due to surgery on a fractured tibia. He was named to the All-Conference USA First Team in 2019 and 2021, was the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 and 2021 and the Conference USA Player of the Year in 2021. As a junior this past season Bassey averaged 17.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 59.0 percent. He was the MVP of the Jordan Brand International Game in 2016 and participated in the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp at the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

At 6-foot-11 and 235 pounds, Bassey offers the package of a rim-running, rim-protecting big with good hands, agility and quickness, with an impressive motor and tenacity. He doesn’t shoot much from the outside but has shown potential both from the mid-range and the 3-point arc that he could add that facet to his game.

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Brooklyn Nets Draft Prospect: Charles Bassey

The 2021 NBA Draft is deep in intriguing big men who still have room to grow and develop and you can count Utah State’s Neemias Queta among them.

Players tend to move around the boards and perspectives differ among mock draft prognosticators, but Queta has uniquely been projected for Brooklyn in three completely different spots among the Nets’ four picks. TANKATHON was highest, slotting him to the first round for the Nets in late May. NBA DRAFT ROOM liked him at No. 44 in late June right after the lottery locked in the draft order, while NBADRAFT.NET suggested him at No. 59, the next-to-last pick in the draft, in early July.

Queta is from Portugal and began to draw interest from American colleges after his summer performances in international age-group competition. By the end of his freshman season he was among mid-major players drawing NBA Draft buzz as well. At 7 feet and 245 pounds, Queta was measured with a 7-4 wingspan and 9-3 standing reach at the 2019 NBA Draft combine. He ended up spending two more seasons at Utah State before committing to the draft this year after his junior season.

Queta made the All-Mountain West First Team this past season and the Second Team the two years prior and was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in both 2019 and 2021. He led the Aggies to Mountain West tournament championships in 2019 and 2020 and an at-large NCAA Tournament bid in 2021 while averaging 14.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks and shooting 55.9 percent. Queta has international experience with in three FIBA Europe age group tournaments for Portugal, winning gold in the Under-20 event in 2019 while averaging 14.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks.

Even after making a strong impression as a freshman, Queta has continued to develop his game every year. He’s grown on the offensive end, where he’s skilled with the ball in his hand both as a distributor and a finisher with solid post moves, a soft touch, and the ability to finish with either hand. On the defensive end he brings toughness and effort, is strong defending the post, and his size and reach makes him a promising rim protector. Similar to the projections that targeted him specifically for Brooklyn, he’s all over the draft boards, as high as No. 22 in THE ATHLETIC down to No. 61 from ESPN.