Although the 2021 NBA draft is still 17 months away, teams are closely monitoring the evolution of next year's class to see how future first-rounders are progressing. It's also worthwhile to get a baseline for how valuable draft picks might be moving forward, particularly with the 2020 NBA trade deadline coming up Feb. 6.
Some scouts are calling 2020 the weirdest draft in years, so it's encouraging to see 2021 already featuring several high-end prospects who likely would garner serious consideration for the No. 1 overall pick this June if the age limit were not in place.
There is no consensus about the No. 1 prospect in 2021 yet, with a two-player race shaping up between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green. Cunningham continues to hold the top spot on our board as the leader of a Montverde Academy team that has been wrecking everything in sight this season.
This weekend, we checked in with many of the top prospects in the 2020 high school class -- the backbone of the 2021 lottery, if history is any indication -- at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts. Here are our insights and new projections for 2021.
Note: We used the same projected standing from our latest 2020 mock draft in this 2021 edition. Although the 2021 draft is too far away to reasonably predict the team order, this gives a sense of picks owed and owned.