NBA Draft 21 – Opportunity Knocks For Conference Players

NBA Draft

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Jim Quist @ACCTheQ –

The NBA Draft is less than two weeks away and the number of ACC men’s players on mock draft big boards is fading. Will it play out the same way as some are projecting? It could make for a tense night as players and their families sit by as names are called out, or not. Even the top pick out of the ACC has slipped but only just a little in the latest lists. Scottie Barnes, a small forward out of Florida State had risen to as high as No. 3 among some mock drafts.

In the latest from Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports, Barnes is at No. 5. Before you say, well, that’s really not a big deal let’s take a look at the rookie pay scale difference between being the third and fifth picks. If you go No. 3 your first year paycheck is $6,533,300 and at No. 5 it’s $5,334,100. The difference of $1,199,200 makes it a big deal.

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Barnes has consistently been among most mock draft’s top 5 picks while Cade Cunningham, a point guard out of Oklahoma State remains the top projected pick. Who is in the top 5 other than Cunningham and Barnes?

  • #1 Cade Cunningham, PG
  • #2 Jalen Green, SG
  • #3 Evan Mobley, C
  • #4 Jalen Suggs, PG
  • #5 Scottie Barnes, SF

NBA Draft

We took a look across multiple current mock drafts to get a feel for the top players and to pull a list of ACC players that stand a good chance of being selected. Ward-Henninger’s list of round 1 selections was the same as Jeremy Woo’s out of Sports Illustrated. Woo went further with his picks giving us a look at the top 60 players.

  • #14 Jalen Johnson, SF
  • #19 Trey Murphy, III, SG
  • #29 Day’Ron Sharpe, C
  • #46 David Johnson, PG/SG
  • #53 Justin Champagnie, F

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There are several other ACC players making mock draft lists at different spots and are worthy of mention.

  • Matthew Hurt
  • Sam Hauser
  • RaiQuan Gray
  • Jay Huff

Coming Up On ACC Nation Podcast – Bennett Conlin, A J Black And Conor O’Neill

NBA Draft