And in a matter of seconds, as the collective NBA universe waited with bated breath over who would own the rights to the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, league Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum took to the podium for another year on Tuesday night to announce that the league’s first selector in the summer’s upcoming draft would be going to the Detroit Pistons.
And before that, Tatum revealed the order of the NBA Draft’s selectors in this year’s Draft Lottery, with teams like Toronto, Cleveland, Houston, and 10 other lottery teams set to pick as soon as Detroit picks who they hope to be the purveyor of greatness for the next decade or more.
And as Detroit landed the first overall pick, that means that highly-touted 2-way prospect Cade Cunningham will likely become a Detroit Piston. He’ll join forces with a young but impressionable core with burgeoning talents Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, and Sekou Doumbouya.
The Houston Rockets entered as heavy favorites to land the top pick in the 2021 draft due to their odds nearly being higher than their adversaries. But since they landed the second-overall pick, either Gonzaga standout Jalen Suggs or USC stretch big Evan Mobley are at the disposal of choice.
As for the rest of the draft order made by the lottery selections, it goes as follows:
2021 NBA Draft Order:
Lottery Picks for First Round
- Detroit Pistons
- Houston Rockets
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Toronto Raptors
- Orlando Magic
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Golden State Warriors
- Orlando Magic (via Chicago by way of the Nikola Vucevic trade)
- Sacramento Kings
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Charlotte Hornets
- San Antonio Spurs
- Indiana Pacers
- Golden State Warriors
Rest of First Round
15. Washington Wizards
16. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Boston)
17. Memphis Grizzlies
18. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Miami)
19. New York Knicks
20. Atlanta Hawks
21. New York Knicks (via Dallas)
22. Los Angeles Lakers
23. Houston Rockets (via Portland)
24. Houston Rockets (via Milwaukee)
25. Los Angeles Clippers
26. Denver Nuggets
27. Brooklyn Nets
28. Philadelphia 76ers
29. Phoenix Suns
30. Utah Jazz
Cunningham was the No. 1 player in the 2020 recruiting class and lived up to the hype all season in his freshman year at Oklahoma State. Detroit will be drafting the 6’8 guard that averaged 20.1 points and 3.5 assists off of 43.8 shooting against collegiate physicality and spacing, and more importantly, the lengthy guard fits the prototypical description of the on-ball facilitator, floor stretcher, and threat as a wing scorer. He will fit in like a glove into Dwayne Casey’s scheme, as the Pistons have quite the offensive arsenal to supply help for the 19-year old potential superstar that flourished playing just one year in the Big 12.
And for the Rockets, getting Jalen Suggs or Evan Mobley aren’t consolation prizes at the slightest. The 2021 draft is awash with talent who can score off the bounce, and the two players mentioned did just that for their respective programs. Suggs made national headlines during the 2020-21 season with the Gonzaga Bulldogs as the best pass-first guard with top-tier court vision and Ball IQ to compliment his ability to beat opponents off the bounce, as well as finish with adeptness at the rim with his league-ready 6’4 frame.
Suggs made his name known even more during the 2020-21 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, getting his Bulldogs to the National Championship game from his averaged 18.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in his last three collegiate games. He also made sure to contribute the single-greatest highlight of the 2020-21 college basketball season – a buzzer-beating half-court heave in Overtime to down the UCLA Bruins during a Final Four semifinal battle.
And conversely, Evan Mobley is perhaps the most gifted prospect in the draft just off of pure intangibles alone. He’s likely to get selected as a top-3 pick, and with his 13.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2 blocks during March Madness this year, the 7-foot-tall power forward showed flashes of being that franchise-altering pick as a skilled stretch four that can score at all three levels.
We have a while until the NBA Draft in late July and others like Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green will move up and down as the NBA Draft process unfolds in the following weeks. And again, keep in mind – this year’s draft class is stock full of guys who can be handed the keys to help drive a franchise to the promised land. Anticipation has been building for this particular draft for the past two years, and with the Draft Lottery now in the books, the mock drafts will start to flow like water in a tributary.
We can’t wait.
Photo Cred: SB Nation/Pounding The Rock
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