2021 NBA Draft Open Thread

What: The 2021 NBA Draft

Where: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, New York

When: Starts 7 PM (Central)

How: ABC/ESPN for the 1st round, ESPN for the 2nd round

Ah the NBA Draft.

Such pomp, such circumstance, a chance for the league to initiate its next class of players with bright eyes and hopefully brighter futures. For the 29 other teams who don’t have a shiny new trophy in their arena, its also the first step in a new offseason where they will reload, revamp, and reset their rosters. Some will have their eyes set to the further future in which their young core will hopefully one day enable them to fight for a title. Others will be preparing for a run to try and knock Milwaukee off the perch atop the league.

For the Bucks, it’ll be a night of... not a whole bunch for at least a few hours. Thanks to the PJ Tucker trade with the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee owns the 31st overall pick in this year’s draft. Thus, pending any trades, it’ll be a few hours before we see who Jon Horst might have his eyes on. There have been vague hints that the Bucks are looking to trade the pick to acquire another veteran player to assist in next season’s title defense. Even if they do trade out, Milwaukee may be able to buy their way back into the back end of the 2nd round (if they’re willing to shell out the cash).

Of course, there are other moving parts out there like the pending Bobby Portis player option decision, whatever Milwaukee is going to do with PJ Tucker, and of course the likes of Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Jordan Nwora continuing their separate Olympic campaigns in Tokyo.

If any Bucks-centric news breaks tonight during the draft we’ll have a separate article up on the site for specific discussion. Otherwise, kick back, relax, and scoff at reaches/agonize over players who drop past their projected draft slot/prepare to welcome some new players one way or another.

Happy drafting!