The 2021 NBA Draft was lots of fun. Teams got better and holes were filled. But we still have questions about some of the moves made by organizations during the draft. Here is a list of questions we want to be answered.
Hours before the draft, Jalen Suggs was a -200 favorite, and oddsmakers and books all believed Jalen Suggs would be the fourth overall selection. The consensus was that the first four picks were a lock and then the drama started at pick five. That wasn’t the case.
Drama started at pick four with the Raptors surprisingly taking Scottie Barnes, a sixth man and freshman from Florida State over a more experienced college guard in Jalen Suggs from Gonzaga. ESPN anonymously interviewed college coaches about their take on the draft. Many said there were question marks and risks involved when taking anyone outside the top three of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Evan Mobley.
ESPN interviewed an ACC coach about Barnes and what he saw from his time in Florida State. “He can be an elite defender,” one ACC coach told ESPN. “He can be a playmaker. The shooting is the question, obviously, but there’s so much about his intangibles in combination with his size. If he can make some shots, all the other things are at such a high level.
He’s probably 6-foot-10, he’s huge. Huge shoulders, long arms. He can dribble, he can pass. I’m a little concerned with his shooting, and not just his shooting, but the sequence of his shooting. It’s not effortless. But he’s so high on the other factors, I can see why he went fourth.” He shot just 27.5 percent from downtown and made just five threes for Florida State last year. You worry that he becomes another Ben Simmons with a better work ethic.
But the reality is, he can do a little bit of everything and his length stands out the most especially on the defensive end. However, those Florida State sixth man’s that have been drafted previously haven’t really developed into the NBA like their teams hoped. Barnes could be another that just doesn’t plan out.
Of course, Ziaire Williams has plenty of potential to make it big in the NBA. He was drafted by the Pelicans and traded to the Grizzlies. The 6-foot-8 freshman wing shot poorly from the field at 37.4 percent. He only scored in double figures twice in two months and shot under 30 percent from long range. Now we can make excuses for him. Stanford wasn’t allowed to play in their home arena so Williams basically played away from home and on the road throughout the entire season. He also missed six games in the middle of the season due to deaths in his family.
He had a rough year for sure but the Grizzlies saw his raw talent and took a chance. This was a reach for sure but here’s what a couple of coaches said about it via ESPN. “I truly believe in his talent,” another coach said.
“I think he does have a high character. It just comes down to how much stock are we putting into the most screwed up season in college basketball history? Especially for a freshman. Especially in Stanford’s situation, where they weren’t even on campus a lot of the time. You have to do your research. Do you believe in him as a person and as a player? His size, athleticism, skill combination is as good as any wing in the draft.”
The biggest surprise in the first round of the NBA Draft was Santi Aldama. Aldama was selected by the Jazz but officially traded to the Grizzlies. He scored 21.2 points per game and rebounded 10.2 boards per game. On top of all that, he shot 51.3 percent from the field. Aldama played in the Patriot conference for the Loyola MD Greyhounds. That conference was all screwed up from the start and the scheduling was wack.
However, the team went 6-11 on the season and 4-10 in conference play. Yet a mid-major forward that dominated the league, couldn’t help his team win enough games to be at least .500 on the season. There’s simply no question about Aldama’s skill but you’d think teams would emphasize winning when making decisions.
One Patriot League coach talked about Aldama and understood the hype surrounding him. But let’s be real, the league needs as many eyes on it as they can, so of course, they’re going to talk him up. “He’s gotten better and better,” one Patriot coach told ESPN. “At 6-foot-11, he has legitimate guard skills. Loyola’s Princeton offense is very positionless and fluid. I was watching them, one possession he comes off a pick-and-roll, makes a pocket pass to a roller. Next possession, he holds off a guy and makes a 10-foot floater. You’re not used to seeing that from 6-foot-11 guys, anywhere. He would do one thing a game where it was just like, holy crap. He’s so good off the bounce, so good inside, so you let him shoot and he makes 37% from 3. What can you do?”
He can do all these things, but he hasn’t won much consistently. Is that a reflection on the star player or the players surrounding him? We’ll see in the next couple of seasons.