The Strickland’s 2021 NBA Draft preview, Part 1
Now that the 2020 NBA Draft is behind us and Obi Toppin is a Knick, who are some of the best prospects that will be available in the 2021 class? Prez dives into Cade Cunningham, BJ Boston, and more in today’s wing-centric Part 1 of The Strickland’s 2021 NBA Draft preview.
It has been brought to my attention that our readers are ready to move on to the 2021 draft class, largely due to the 176-month offseason our beloved Knicks have endured and the high probability that the 2020-21 Knicks are going to suck ass. Furthermore, with trade season enveloping us like a cool fall fog rolling through Van Cortlandt Park, debate over the value of the Dallas ‘21 pick has picked up steam. And how valuable is it? Well, was our Miller Time 35-win pace a coach’s bump mirage or the genuine article, after frontin’ fraudulent Fiz was foisted away?
I ramble: the point of this piece is to provide a little context, to gently familiarize you all with some of the blue chippers of the 2021 draft. I will also caveat this, as the who’s who can change a lot from the preseason to the draft: Cole Anthony was a top-3 consensus guy and went in the 20s; R.J. Hampton was consensus top 10, and, ditto, he went in the 20s; Ja Morant was a returning sophomore beloved by analytics models and not much else and went second overall; guys get hurt; etc.
Lastly, you’ll notice that for the most part — aside from his highness atop the list — these uber-talented teens actually have legitimate flaws. The best way I can describe it is this class has a bunch of guys who would be in the LaMelo Ball/Anthony Edwards/Morant/RJ Barrett/Marvin Bagley tier: very strong upside, but not risk-free by any means. And again, I reiterate: this piece doesn’t include the future Devin Vassells, Obi Toppins and Grant Rillers — guys who stayed in school and upped their game. We’ll cover those another day. Today’s all about the neophytes.
So who’s included? In this Part 1 we’ll cover some of the headline names, players who turn heads because of their size and high-scoring, high-impact upside (and in the case of our first guy, of more than that). Part 2 will cover players who might be able to run an offense, the big men, and a few other notable one- or two-trick ponies.
The Gawd
This section is called “The Gawd” because there is only one player in it, and he might be a deity.
Cade Cunningham (∞, Oklahoma State)
Cade Cunningham is a Luka-level prospect. All the noise about various Jalens and BJ Boston and Jonathan Kuminga and others as potentially the best prospect will end similar to babble about how Barrett might have a chance to be a better prospect than Zion — pure nonsense. A 6-foot-8 wing/point guard, strong as iron, who can casually snap off every pass in the book from everywhere. Brutally effective handle, ambidextrous finishing, and can also put you on a poster. His jumper was a work in progress, then he shot 40% from three his senior year. Plus defender on- and off-ball who projects to be stout and sturdy vs. the Lukas and Tatums, who will remain in the league for years. A winner. He shows up in the videos of all the other guys in this list since he’s the ball handler/point guard for a lot of AAU, All-Star, and FIBA teams. Not much else to say.
As I type, he just finished his first game as a collegiate athlete. Check the tweet and video below from the always useful Knicks Draft Guy for 10 minutes of footage from that game:
The Big Buckets
This category is called the Big Buckets because… everyone is big and giving you buckets. The players listed are in no particular order.
Jalen Green (SG, G-League Ignite)
The face of the new G-League Ignite team, he’s basically the Anthony Edwards of this class. Prototypical 2-guard build, if a little svelte, Green is 6-foot-5 with what has to be a 40 inch vertical. Despite an only OK handle, he has moves to get to his jumpshot and may lean on them a bit too much. The passing is beginning to come through, but still a work in progress. Sometimes holds the shoot button too long, but when he gets in a rhythm, he’s liable to rain down hellfire from everywhere and alternate between dunk contest finishes and pull-up threes. Given his heavy volume and heat checks, his efficiency on the whole has been good so far, especially when he puts his mind to getting to the line… but you can’t help but wonder if the whole is still somehow less than the sum of the parts, so far.
You can see it all in the above video, which begins with some of his mixtape highlights, then a clip from a workout with Darren Collison where he gets worked to fatigue and some of his shooting inconsistencies flare up; even with those, he’s still managed to be a solid shooter. He’s still putting it all together, but many of the important ingredients for his game are there. Developing that connective tissue to make his strengths translate into game-changing impact may well be a tricky feat, but many a GM would like to try their hand at it.
Bonus: how to tell if a prospect is gonna be a Prez favorite, starring Jalen Green.
BJ Boston (G/F, Kentucky)
Bet you didn’t expect J.R. Smith to show up in this piece! I enjoyed this clip of Babyface BJ working out with him. You can see BJ has a nice shot himself, even if he’s not making 20-plus straight threes like our wily OG is. (…yet.)
Probably Coach Cal’s biggest fish since Karl-Anthony Towns, Boston is as good bet as any to be the second pick behind Cade, a 6-foot-8 rail-thin wing with long arms who can already create his own shot from pretty much anywhere because his handle is absolutely killer for someone his size. Defensive pressure does not bother him when dribbling or shooting. That’s not something you can say about 99% of prospects.
BJ is happy to break off combo moves with crisp footwork and is so tall he can shoot over most defenders when attacking off the dribble. His high school and EYBL shooting stats leave something to be desired, but mechanically his upper body has great form. If he can clean up footwork a tad, his college shooting numbers will leap off the page, and if not, it’s an easy fix for an NBA developmental staff.
Defensively, the idea of “BJ Boston: rangy wing disruptor” is probably a bit ahead of the reality. I’ll be paying close attention to his growth in terms of awareness and execution off-ball over the course of his time at Kentucky.
Jonathan Kuminga (F, G-League Ignite)
That clip was from friend of the site Robel. Go watch his full Kuminga video .
Kuminga is another tall (6-foot-7) wing (see a pattern?) with on-ball scoring skills. Despite being the youngest on this list, he’s already built like a tank and has a wingspan of a few inches under seven feet to boot. He will likely be a free throw drawing machine with his aggressive driving, scoring instincts and strength. Doesn’t need to get fancy to get from the perimeter to the rim.
The shot ain’t broke, but it’s still a work in progress, and as far as jumpers go, he is more of a shot taker and maker than shooter. Meh free throw shooting reflects that, too. It looks clean off the catch and very shaky off the dribble, but he himself doesn’t know that yet — his shot selection is horrible. The decision-making and motor issues also show up on defense and rebounding, where he has all the physical tools (agility, length, strength) to be super impactful, but isn’t. G-League Select with a bunch of pros might be just what the doctor ordered to polish off this diamond in the rough.
Keon Johnson (G, Tennessee)
One term I like that some draft Twitter folks have thrown around is “prospect in movement,” a prospect improving rapidly as they enter age 17-19, as opposed to someone like RJ who was pretty much a beast at 16-17 and just remained mostly the same beastly player to his competition but didn’t show a huge leap in skill or size across 17-19. In 2020, the guys that fit that bill most were probably Killian Hayes and Devin Vassell.
6-foot-6 combo guard Keon Johnson is probably that guy in 2021. He was already a beast by 16, but you might describe him as “raw” — although I don’t think that quite describes his game. He has tremendous feel and instincts, which make up for his still-developing technical skills (passing, handling, shooting), not unlike Isaac Okoro this year. But as a senior, he began showing flashes of skill development to complement his instincts and nuclear athleticism (in the clip above, he was jumping off the wrong foot, through contact, to put people on posters). He shot a hilarious 58/33/68 in high school, though the FT% and 3P% are trending up. Expect that improvement to continue on a college team with other potential lottery guys as he continues to approach his sky-high ceiling.
Jaden Springer
Hey! It’s Keon’s back court-mate, also 6-foot-5. Tennessee is gonna be really good, to the point where you wonder if the two guards are gonna deflate their own statistical profile a bit by sharing. Neither are quite lead point guards; neither are knockdown shooters. Jaden has been more of an on-ball dynamo for longer, and is comfortable taking shots from all over off the dribble. His jumper isn’t the splashiest, yet but it’s solid; and he’s not the quickest, but he’s strong and explosive at the rim and knows how to leverage attention to make basic reads. He’s also a pretty stout defender on-ball, happily getting in a stance, willing to absorb contact on screens and keep moving like a boxer. It will be interesting to see how his shooting develops and how the facilitation duties shake out between the two young guards.
Ziaire Williams (F, Stanford)
6-foot-8, skinny, lanky, wild bounce, and Stanford’s highest-ranked recruit of all time. I know it seems like a broken record now, where every player is either tall and skinny and bouncy, tall and long and strong, or big for a guard and strong — but that’s why this section is The Big Buckets.
For some people, he’s a top-10 to top-15 guy, but you’re already seeing him pop up in top 10s and even top fives. I am absolutely in love with his game,. His wingspan has to be near seven feet, and he has the handle and coordination to do anything — which has been a problem, as well. He was inefficient given his physical advantages, but his ability to handle and pull up, pass in a crowd over and around people, and lock in jump off the page. Very nice-looking shot whether off catch, movement, or dribble, so I’d expect a pretty strong statistical shooting profile when his one year at school is finished. I also can forgive his erstwhile hyper energy/bad decisions, because his motor is in fifth gear all the time, and effort/engagement isn’t a concern for him. The motor and defense are the main show here, despite what the Ballislife mixtape above would make you think. Played with BJ Boston, too, so he knows how to share.
Marjon Beauchamp (G, Hyperbolic Time Chamber)
The 6-foot-6, long-armed, five-star recruit, Marjon (son of JonMarc, which is amazing) decided to spurn Arizona, Arizona State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Eastern Washington, Florida State, Marquette, Montana, Oregon State, Seattle, Washington, and Washington State. He’s also not going to the G-League. Or to the NBL. Or to China.
He’s skipping college to train and muscle up, boot-camp style, with a few other prospects and this oddly secretive, intense, mythical New Jersey-raised trainer named Frank Matrisciano who’s trained athletes, actors, law enforcement officers, martial artists, and Blake Griffin. He played in the Seattle area, was teammates with Michael Porter Jr. in high school, and has dueled with Boston and Green more than a few times.
As for his frame and his game, he’s a skinny wing, more smooth than explosive, though far from unathletic, with a lightning-quick release and great balance on his jumpers, both off the catch and the bounce. The jumper is probably his ticket in the league, as is his mindset: he seems like a player who knows his skills and gets the most out of them. His game is functional more so than a lot of the guys above, who have incredible weapons but also big holes in their game.
Terrence Clarke (F, Kentucky)
The other big wing freshman plying his trade at Kentucky, Clarke is 6-foot-7 with a wingspan I’m guessing is around the plus-4 to plus-5 range. He’s probably going to end up my favorite of this class, just because of his saucy handle on offense and his willingness to get physical and intense on defense (even if he doesn’t quite have the instincts or agility to be elite on that end). He’s not quite a black hole, either, and his jumper looks great mechanically. He’s a very capable all-around player, and in any other class I’d be quicker to label him top-5 or top-10 as a big wing with a nice floor and upside. But alas, this isn’t any other class.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where' we’ll get into the big men, non-Cade potential primary ball handlers, and more!
