Davion Mitchell, Chris Duarte rises in latest 2021 NBA Draft Big Board

We are getting closer to the 2021 NBA Draft that will be held on July 29th. With players having until May 30th to make their decisions you can expect movement up and down the draft boards.

Here is my board, including those projected from the lottery to the end of the first round. I am 100% sure it will change by July and by then I will have a top 60 board.

16. Jaden Springer

17. Ziare Williams

18. Cam Thomas

19. Ayo Dosunmu

20. Jared Butler

21. Jalen Johnson

22. Tre Mann

23. Kai Jones

24 Usman Garuba

25. Roko Prkacin

26. Isaiah Jackson

27. Shariff Cooper

28. Aaron Henry

29. Greg Brown

30. Joel Ayayi

1. FR Cade Cunningham – Oklahoma State Cowboys

The clear number 1 recruit in the 2020 class. Cade Cunningham had a great freshman season and is the number 1 player on my board. Cunningham averaged 20.1 points on a 43.8/40.0/84.6 line from the field along with 6.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He was also named an All-American along with the Big 12 Player of the Year.

Cunningham is a solid defender who should be able to guard a couple of different positions with a high defensive IQ. He shot the ball well from three at 40 percent who showed the ability to knock down pull-ups. Perhaps the best attribute to his game is his ability to pass and use ball screens at 6’8.

A thing he struggled with this year was the turnovers. Cunningham had 4 turnovers to 3.5 assists witch isn’t great. You never wanna see one of your ballhandlers with a negative assist to turnover ratio. Since Ok State didn’t have much shooting around him that caused teams especially Oregon State in the NCAA tournament to sag in which caused some of his turnover issues. Regardless, the spacing at the NBA level should help him have more room in the lane to operate.

2. FR Jalen Suggs – Gonzaga Bulldogs

The freshman guard out of Minneapolis Minnesota helped lead Gonzaga to a 31-1 record and the National Championship game averaged 14.4 points on 5.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds on a 50.3/33.7/76.1 line. Suggs is a bigger lead guard at 6’4 but he’s strong and is a powerful athlete that is great at getting to the rim. He has a high IQ on offense and can make good passing reads and an awesome on-ball defender.

Perhaps the greatest skill Suggs has is how fearless and competitive he is as a player. At the next level, Suggs needs to improve his jump shot. He was pretty streaky throughout the year shooting 22.2 percent from three at home 32.0 on the road and 40.4 percent at neutral sites. He has a solid pull-up jumper and should continue to develop that as he gets closer to the NBA. Suggs had a great season and has a shot to be a very good pro. He is the number two player on my big board.

3. FR Evan Mobley USC Trojans

Mobley, 16.4 points per game and 8.7 rebounds was the Pac-12 player of the year, freshman and the year and defensive player of the year led the Trojans to the Elite Eight. Starting on defense he is an extremely smart player who does a really good job coming over for the weak side to help and can switch on guards.

Mobley does an incredible job protecting the rim as well with 2.9 blocks a game and is a big part of why USC had the 2nd best two-point defense in the country. He needs to get stronger and can struggle at times when he gets sealed in the post like against Dishon Jackson from Washington State. Since Mobley has such a high IQ, is long, and mobile he should step into the NBA as a quality defender.

Offensively, Mobley can score out of multiple different ways such as post-ups, the pick and roll, and mid-range jump shots. He needs to improve the free throw shooting but judging that he’s comfortable shooting in the midrange I think you can expect him to be able to hit an occasional pick and pop at the NBA level. He also has good ball-handling ability for a big man and can pass.

Mobley needs to continue to extend the range on his jump shot and get stronger but has an all-star level ceiling at the next level.