NBA Draft 2021: Time, Channel and How to Watch

The 2020-21 NBA season came to an end last week, but it’s time to get ready for the 2021-22 campaign. The NBA Draft takes place on Thursday night, and it’s a time where some of the top college basketball stars finally reach a lifetime goal and become future NBA stars. The draft will start at 8 p.m. ET, and the first round will air on ABC and ESPN. The second round will air only on ESPN.

The biggest question when it comes to NBA Draft is who will be the No. 1 overall pick? According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Detroit Pistons, who have the top pick in the draft, are going to take Cade Cunningham from Oklahoma State. The Houston Rockets (No. 2 pick) will likely take Jalen Green who was playing in the NBA G League, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, are leaning towards Evan Mobley from USC. Cunningham, 19, had a monster year at Oklahoma State as he was named a consensus All-American and USBWA National Freshman of the Year.

“Going into my ninth-grade year, I just really started to lock in on basketball and I started studying more, in terms of the mindset, of the top guys and how they approached situations and things like that,” Cunningham said during a pre-draft news conference. Cunningham’s work in high school led to him being one of the best college basketball players in the country last season. In 27 games, Cunningham averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

“Cade is an extremely hard worker,” trainer Ashton Bennings told Yahoo Sports. “When he transferred to Montverde, he came back with a completely different mindset. It was a pro-level mindset and he was the one waking me up telling me, ‘Yo, let’s get in the gym.’ It’s crazy how his mindset changed almost overnight, but he’s been the same ever since.”

Green, signed a contract with the NBA G League Ignite in April 2020 after having an All-American Career at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California. He has won three gold medals with Team USA at the junior level.