Myers isn’t sure if 2021 draft is just five players deep originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Most NBA draft experts believe the 2021 class is five players deep and then there’s a significant drop-off.
Whether or not that turns out to be true, Warriors president and general manager Bob Myers doesn’t necessarily agree with that assessment of the 2021 draft class.
Myers is in Chicago, Ill. for the 2021 NBA Draft Combine and spoke to reporters Tuesday night after the Warriors landed the No. 7 and No. 14 picks in the lottery.
“I don’t know that it’s going to be that,” Myers said on a video conference call. “I thought that too. I don’t know if it’s going to be what people think, at least talking to other teams, I don’t know if it’s just going to be five players. I don’t know if it will narrow down to a four-player draft or three or become a six-player draft or seven. But that’s what this process is about. You’re going to find whatever you thought today may change.
“I think some guys that are not in that five — I think I know which five you’re talking about — may end up in that group, and that’ll be interesting to see. So I do know this. I can find 14 players, and I think our group can, that we like, and if we can find 14, I think we can find seven. And it is really deep. That’s not me saying that because we have two picks. Make your own determination, but it is a, in our opinion, a pretty deep draft, so it’s nice to have two picks in it.”
The five players widely expected to go No. 1 through No. 5, in some order, are Cade Cunningham, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley and Jonathan Kuminga.
Unless one of those players slides during the pre-draft process, Myers and the Warriors will have to pick from the next tier of prospects at No. 7, a list that includes Tennessee guard Keon Johnson, Florida State forward Scottie Barnes, Baylor guard Davion Mitchell, Arkansas forward Moses Moody and a few others.
NBC Sports California’s James Ham has the Warriors selecting Barnes at No. 7 in his post-lottery Mock Draft, noting that the 19-year-old plays with “a fire and force that teams will fall in love with.”
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At No. 14, Ham has Michigan forward Franz Wagner going to the Warriors, believing that the Wolverine’s high basketball IQ and ability to shoot will fit in with the Warriors.
With five weeks until the draft on July 29, we’ll soon find out if the top five players on most draft boards really are the best five players, or if Myers is proven right and it becomes a six or seven-player draft.