2021 NBA draft | |
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General information | |
Sport | Basketball |
Date(s) | July 29, 2021 |
Location | Barclays Center (Brooklyn, New York) |
Network(s) | |
Overview | |
60 total selections in 2 rounds | |
League | NBA |
First selection | Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons) |
The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after the previous year's draft was held through videoconferencing at ESPN Studios in Bristol, Connecticut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. [2] The NBA used a "ceremonial pick" for the late Terrence Clarke, between the 14th and 15th pick of the draft.
PG | Point guard | SG | Shooting guard | SF | Small forward | PF | Power forward | C | Center |
+ | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Star Game |
# | Denotes player who has never appeared in an NBA regular season or playoff game |
~ | Denotes player who has been selected as Rookie of the Year |
These players were not selected in the 2021 NBA draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA.
Prior to the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between teams.
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. [69]
Prior to the NBA Draft Combine, the 2021 NBA G League Elite Camp, which took place on June 19–21 at the Wintrust Arena and Marriott Marquis in Chicago, provided another chance for players not originally invited to the combine to impress scouts. The best performers from this camp were given invites to the main combine. [70]
The NBA Draft Combine was held on June 21–27 at the same site 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. [71] Lottery-projected pick Keon Johnson broke the combine's vertical leap record of 45.5 in (1.16 m), set by Kenny Gregory in 2001, with a vertical leap of 48 in (1.2 m). [72] 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. [73] Numerous other potential prospects, especially those playing overseas, also decided to skip the Combine. [73]
External videos | |
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2021 NBA Draft Lottery Drawing, NBA's official YouTube channel. Jun 22, 2021. |
The NBA draft lottery was held on June 22. It was also televised nationally on ESPN. [74] [75]
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 | 18 | 1.8% | 2.0% | 2.2% | 2.5% | - | - | - | - | - | - | 77.6% | 13.4% | 0.4% | <0.1% |
San Antonio Spurs | 33–39 | 17 | 1.7% | 1.9% | 2.1% | 2.4% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 85.2% | 6.6% | 0.1% |
Indiana Pacers | 34–38 | 10 | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.4% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 92.9% | 2.3% |
Golden State Warriors | 39–33 | 5 | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.7% | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 97.6% |
Notes:
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.
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. [79]
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. 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. [80]
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. [81] The current version of the list found in this article omits players who withdrew from the draft after June 2.
Terrence Clarke, a freshman guard from Kentucky, declared for the draft, but died on April 22, three months before it. [82] At the draft, the NBA honored him with an honorary selection. [83]
"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 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. [84]
Players who do not meet the criteria for "international" players are automatically eligible if they meet any of the following criteria:
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:
Player | Team | Note | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Owen Hulland | Adelaide 36ers (Australia) | Left Hawaii in 2020; playing professionally since the 2020–21 season | [85] |
Filip Petrušev | Mega Basket (Serbia) | Left Gonzaga in 2020; playing professionally since the 2020–21 season | [86] |
Isaac White | The Hawks (Australia) | Left Stanford in 2020; playing professionally since the 2020–21 season | [87] |
After previously not having a proper "green room" invitation process for the 2020 NBA draft due to the COVID-19 pandemic (with players instead being conducted interviews and showings through videotelephony), the NBA allowed for invites to attend the NBA draft event once again this season. The NBA usually annually invites players to sit in the so-called "green room", a special room set aside at the draft site for the invited players plus their families and agents, with 2020 being considered an exception due to the unprecedented nature of COVID-19 impacting the world at the time. This year, a reported 20 players were invited (listed alphabetically). [88]
The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players from high schools and non-North American leagues. The NBA announced that 49 college and high school players and 11 international players had filed as early-entry candidates for the draft.
The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. This was also the only time the New Orleans Hornets would draft under the temporary name of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets as the city of New Orleans was still recovering from the events of Hurricane Katrina after the 2005-06 NBA season.
The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. This draft set a record with five players being drafted from the same school in the first round. The players were John Wall (first), DeMarcus Cousins (fifth), Patrick Patterson (fourteenth), Eric Bledsoe (eighteenth), and Daniel Orton (twenty-ninth), all from the University of Kentucky. This draft also marked the second time an NBA D-League player was drafted, with the first case coming in 2008.
The original Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) were established in 1988 as an expansion team, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team's roster was filled with unprotected players at the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft, and five days later the Hornets made their first picks out of college players at the 1988 NBA draft. The Hornets remained in Charlotte for 14 seasons before relocating to New Orleans in 2002. Two years after the Hornets' departure, the Charlotte Bobcats were established in 2004. The Bobcats first participated in the 2004 NBA draft, two days after their expansion draft was held. The franchise's name was changed back to the Hornets at the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, one year after the team in Louisiana renamed itself the New Orleans Pelicans. The history and records of the original Charlotte Hornets were conveyed to the newly named Charlotte Hornets.
The Houston Rockets joined the NBA in 1967 as the San Diego Rockets, and moved to Houston in 1971, where they have been located ever since.
The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time, and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The New Orleans Hornets, who had a 13.70 percent probability of obtaining the first selection, won the NBA draft lottery on May 30. The Charlotte Bobcats and the Washington Wizards were second and third, respectively. This draft marked the first time that the first two players selected were from the same school. It also set a record of having six players from one school (Kentucky) being selected in the two rounds of the draft and was the first draft to have the first three selections be college freshmen all from the same conference. Bernard James was the oldest player drafted in an NBA draft, being 27 years old at the time of the draft.
The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at Barclays Center, Brooklyn. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The draft lottery took place on May 7, 2014. The Cleveland Cavaliers won the draft lottery to earn the first overall pick in the draft; this is the fourth number-one pick for Cleveland since 2003 and third number-one pick over a four-year span from 2011 to 2014. This draft would also be the first for the reborn Charlotte Hornets, who played as the Bobcats from 2004 to 2014, since 2001, when the original Charlotte Hornets last selected as the Charlotte Hornets before moving to New Orleans and eventually becoming the current New Orleans Pelicans.
The 2013 NBA draft was held on June 27, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. State Farm was the presenting sponsor. The lottery took place on May 21, 2013. This was the first draft for New Orleans under their new Pelicans name after playing as the New Orleans Hornets previously. It would also be the last draft for the Charlotte Bobcats under their old name, as they resumed playing under their old Hornets moniker that they last used in 2002 once the 2013–14 NBA season was over. Anthony Bennett, the first pick in the draft, had a very limited amount of media outlets considering him as a potential #1 pick in the draft. He bounced around the league and then was finally released by the Brooklyn Nets in January 2017 after averaging just 5.2 PPG.
The 2015 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The draft lottery took place on May 19, 2015.
The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The draft lottery took place during the playoffs, on May 17, 2016. This was the first time since the lottery system was introduced in 1985 that all NBA teams that missed out on the playoffs remained in the exact spots they were designated, meaning the 10-win/72-loss Philadelphia 76ers received the No. 1 pick, the Los Angeles Lakers kept the No. 2 pick, the Boston Celtics via the Brooklyn Nets got the No. 3 pick, and everyone else stayed in their same spots based on the regular season standings from the 2015–16 season.
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players.
The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was televised nationally by ESPN. State Farm was the presenting sponsor of the NBA draft for the seventh consecutive year. This draft was the last to use the original weighted lottery system that gave teams near the bottom of the NBA draft better odds at the top three picks of the draft while teams higher up had worse odds in the process; the rule was agreed upon by the NBA on September 28, 2017, but would not be implemented until the 2019 draft. It was also considered the final year where undrafted college underclassmen were forced to begin their professional careers early; on August 8, 2018, the NCAA announced that players who declared for the NBA draft and were not selected would have the opportunity to return to their school for at least another year. With the last year of what was, at the time, the most recent lottery system, the Phoenix Suns won the first overall pick on May 15, 2018, with the Sacramento Kings at the second overall pick and the Atlanta Hawks at third overall pick. The Suns' selection was their first No. 1 overall selection in franchise history. They used the selection on the Bahamian center Deandre Ayton from the nearby University of Arizona.
The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was televised nationally on ESPN. State Farm was the presenting sponsor of the NBA draft for the eighth consecutive year. This draft was the first to feature a new weighted lottery system in which the three worst teams each had a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery; these teams were the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Phoenix Suns. The lottery took place on May 14, during the NBA playoffs. Three of the four teams who held the top four picks of the draft this year rose up from at least six spots in the lottery, including the New Orleans Pelicans, who won the first pick with 6 percent odds. The Pelicans used that pick on Duke forward Zion Williamson . After Williamson, his Duke teammates R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish was drafted in the top 10 as part of the Big 3 from Duke. This draft included the first Japanese player to be selected in the first round, as well as the first Angolan player to be selected.
The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing at the time COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecticut, with the event held via videoconferencing. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. It was televised nationally on ESPN. The draft lottery was originally scheduled to take place on May 19, 2020, but due in part to the 2020 NBA Bubble, it was rescheduled to take place on August 20, 2020, instead. This was the first draft since 1975 to not be held in June and was also the second to be done later than that month after the inaugural 1947 draft, which was conducted in July by the NBA's predecessor, the Basketball Association of America (BAA). This draft also featured the lack of a proper "green room" due to pandemic restrictions. The first pick was made by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who selected Anthony Edwards out of Georgia.
The 2022 NBA draft, the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The 2022 edition marked a return to the draft's normal June date after postponements were made in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This draft was the first of at least three straight NBA drafts that consisted of only 58 picks instead of the typical 60 due to the loss of a second-round pick for both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat for violating the NBA's tampering rules during free agency. The first pick was made by the Orlando Magic, who selected Paolo Banchero from Duke. Banchero went on to win Rookie of the Year.
The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second year in a row due to the loss of a second-round pick for both the Chicago Bulls and the Philadelphia 76ers for violating the NBA's tampering rules during free agency. The first overall selection was made by the San Antonio Spurs, who selected the 7'4" French center Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama went on to win the Rookie of the Year.
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