New York NBA teams had a chance to rebuild and add fresh faces to their roster with the 2021 NBA Draft last Thursday evening.
The draft returned to an in-person selection process at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn just ahead of the NBA’s 75th anniversary season. A virtual selection process was held the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both New York teams had first round picks and orchestrated several moves before the Knicks ended round 1 with the 25th overall pick, Quentin Grimes of the University of Houston and the Nets selecting the 27th overall pick, Cameron Thomas of Louisiana State University and receiving the 29th overall pick Day’Ron Sharpe of the University of North Carolina.
“It’s always good to have some youth, some guys in our program that can give a lot of energy and continue to grow and inspire to be great NBA players,” said Nets Head Coach Steve Nash at the Rookie Press Conference following the draft, posted on the Nets website Aug. 2. “This is going to give our group a lift and our coaching staff is excited to welcome these guys on board as well.”
Thomas Joins the Big Three in Brooklyn Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
The night started as the Detroit Pistons selected Oklahoma State University point guard 6’8, 220 lbs freshman Cade Cunningham as the #1 overall pick. Cunningham averaged 20.1 points last season and helped his team reach the NCAA tournament. The Houston Rockets, with the second overall pick, selected 6’6, 178 lbs shooting guard Jalen Green from the NBA G League team, Ignite. The 19-yr-old skipped college and averaged 17.9 ppg for Ignite. The Cleveland Cavaliers selected University of Southern California power forward freshman Evan Mobley as the third overall pick. The 7ft, 215lbs center averaged 16.4 ppg.
“I’m just here to do my best, bring everything that I’ve got to this city, to the team, get to know everyone,” Mobley said when asked about his plans to bring Cleveland closer to their next championship. “I feel like we definitely can have a great year this next coming year.”
Later on during the draft event, it was announced that the New York Knicks traded their #19 pick to the Charlotte Hornets for a future pick. 6’10 221, lbs Texas Longhorn forward Kai Jones was selected as the 19th pick.
Shortly afterwards it was announced that the Knicks then traded their 21st pick to the Los Angeles Clippers for the 25th pick and a 2024 second round pick via the Detroit Pistons. 6’4 185 lbs guard Keon Johnson of the University of Tennessee Volunteers was selected as the 21st overall pick.
The Knicks welcomed Grimes to “The Mecca” the following day via a Tweet. Grimes, who was born in Houston, started college with the University of Kansas Jayhawks and transferred to Houston where he led the Cougars to the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament last season. According to the University of Houston he ranked third in the American Athletic Conference with 17.8 ppg and “11th in the American with 8.6 rebounds” per game. His university recognized him as the first Cougar to receive “All-America honors of any kind since 1999”. Grimes Tweeted, “NEW YORK, WHAT’S GOOD!
The Brooklyn Nets were on the clock two spots later and selected 6’4, 210 lbs guard freshman star Cameron Thomas of LSU as the 27th overall pick. According to LSU, Thomas, who was born in Japan and raised in Virginia, averaged 23 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. LSU recognized him for having “one of the top freshman seasons in LSU Basketball history”. According to LSU he had “22 20-point games, the most 20-point games of any LSU player since Shaquille O’Neal in 1992.” Thomas said he looks forward to playing with James Harden, his favorite player.
“Yeah, I can just play on the ball if I need to, also, off ball, running off screens, catch and shoot, anything, playmaking for those guys, getting them the ball,” he said about how he would fit in with Brooklyn’s “Big Three”, including Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Harden. “I just feel like I’m just so complete offensively and an all-around player that coming in I can make an immediate impact with those guys and we can do some great things.”
Shortly afterwards, it was announced that Nets and the Phoenix Suns agreed to a deal to send the 29th pick and Jevon Carter to the Nets in exchange for Landry Shamet. The Suns selected center 6’11, 265 lbs, Day’Ron Sharpe of the North Carolina Tar Heels as the 29th overall pick. UNC recognizes the freshman on their website for leading the country in offensive rebound percentage (.183) and leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in offensive rebounds with 3.4 per game. Sharpe, who was born in Greenville, N.C., averaged 9.5 points and 7.6 rebounds for UNC during the 2020-2021 season.
The Nets now look at the rest of the team as players will make decisions regarding free agency.
“The front office group has to be responsible with how we build a team, not only looking at the next few years, but four, five, six, seven years down the line too,” said Nets GM Sean Marks at the Rookie Press Conference following the draft.
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