NBA Draft: Grades for all 30 teams in the 2021 NBA Draft
NBA Draft Grades: Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics: Juhann Begarin (45)
After moving their first-round pick to offload Kemba Walker’s salary, the Boston Celtics were all too happy to take a draft-and-stash as they face a roster crunch for next season. The teenage Begarin is from France and has all of the tools to be a tough, physical wing but hasn’t yet put them together. Boston will watch from a distance to see if he does.
Grade: C
Brooklyn Nets: Cam Thomas (27); Day’Ron Sharpe (29); Kessler Edwards (44); Marcus Zegarowski (49); RaiQuan Gray (59)
The Nets got things started earlier in the day, flipping Landry Shamet to the Phoenix Suns for Jevon Carter and the 29th pick. They then apparently thought one point guard wasn’t enough, adding two more over the course of the night to backup their two All-NBA guards.
Positional question marks aside, the Nets actually hit on some significant values in this draft. Cam Thomas is a score-only guard and Day’Ron Sharpe is a big with plenty of intangibles but hasn’t performed well yet; they were both fine values, although not the best players available at their positions when the Nets came up.
The Nets turned that around in the second, taking wing sniper Kessler Edwards with the 44th pick (25th on my board) and point forward RaiQuan Gray at 59 (36th on my board). Edwards could replace Shamet in the rotation from day one, while Gray needs to lose weight and improve his shot to find a place in the rotation. Zegarowski was a bit of a reach at 49, but he can absolutely shoot the ball so he has a chance.
Grade: B
New York Knicks: Quentin Grimes (25); Rokas Jokubaitis (34); Miles McBride (36); Jericho Sims (58)
The Knicks seemingly didn’t want to take anyone, trading down three different times. They eventually got into the mix at pick No. 25 with Houston wing Quentin Grimes, who was this year’s Combine warrior; there were better players available at 25. Then again maybe the Knicks knew what they were doing, as I would have taken McBride at 25 and he fell to them at 36; swap those two and the value was great.
Rokas Jokubaitis is a talented point guard who has performed well overseas and projects as a solid backup in the NBA. Jericho Sims was the third Texas center taken but it’s possible he ends up the best, but he has a lot of development still to do even as a four-year college player.
The Knicks are not a win-now team, and they should have invested more in high draft picks instead of continually trading down. With the trades themselves, they got middling value on their first-round trades but exceptional value in the second.
Grade: B-
Philadelphia 76ers: Jaden Springer (28); Filip Petrusev (50); Charles Bassey (53)
Heading into the draft it was possible that all of the best guards would be gone by the time Philadelphia picked at 28, and they were rumored to be working the phone to try and trade up. Instead, the draft went a little wonky and the 76ers had their pick of a number of options, taking Tennessee guard Jaden Springer. He has length and can defend, but his jumper is hit-or-miss. I had Miles McBride one spot higher, but they were in the same tier and this was a great pick.
Filip Petrusev was also a solid flier at 50, a stretch-5 playing in Serbia last year; he will probably stay over there for another year before heading over. Charles Bassey does a lot of the big man things very well, from rebounding to shot-blocking to catching passes in the pick-and-roll. He should be able to carve out a role as a backup center for a decently long career.
Grade: A-
Toronto Raptors: Scottie Barnes (4); Dalano Banton (46); David Johnson (47)
The Toronto Raptors have found success in the past taking athletic players with a great work ethic and teaching them how to shoot. They decided to lean into that on draft night with all three of their picks. Scottie Barnes is a polarizing player, one who does a lot of things well and brings a lot of character and leadership intangibles, things the Raptors love. He just really, really can’t shoot and isn’t a rim protector, so at four he was a reach. They should have gone with consensus and taken Jalen Suggs.
Banton was also a reach, a player most didn’t expect to be drafted but who went in the middle of the second round when players such as Sharife Cooper were still available. Some players such as Joel Ayayi and Aaron Henry fell out of the draft entirely, probably not willing to take a two-way deal, so it’s hard to knock the Raptors too much if that’s all they were planning to offer.
Grade: C-