Last night, the Detroit Pistons won the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery.
The Pistons, who are in a full rebuild, will presumably pick the long guard/wing from Oklahoma State, Cade Cunningham with the first pick. Cunningham should fit nicely with the young pieces that Detroit GM Troy Weaver accumulated in last year’s draft.
After Cunningham, there are five more guys in the top tier of talent in this draft: F/C Evan Mobley of USC, PG Jalen Suggs of Gonzaga, F Scottie Barnes of Florida State, and the two NBA G-League Ignite standouts, G Jalen Green and F Jonathan Kuminga.
Once the top six picks are off the board, there seems to be a mix of teams drafting for potential, fit, and immediate impact. This is a post-lottery mock constructed during game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, so expect changes as combine and workout reports come in.
| # | Team | Player | H | P | Team |
| 1 | DET | Cade Cunningham | 6-8 | G | Oklahoma St. |
| 2 | HOU | Evan Mobley | 7-0 | F/C | USC |
| 3 | CLE | Jalen Green | 6-6 | G | G-League |
| 4 | TOR | Jalen Suggs | 6-4 | G | Gonzaga |
| 5 | ORL | Jonathan Kuminga | 6-6 | F | G-League |
| 6 | OKC | Scottie Barnes | 6-9 | F | Florida St. |
| 7 | GS | Jalen Johnson | 6-9 | F | Duke |
| 8 | ORL | Keon Johnson | 6-5 | G/F | Tennessee |
| 9 | SAC | Moses Moody | 6-6 | G/F | Arkansas |
| 10 | NO | Corey Kispert | 6-7 | G/F | Gonzaga |
| 11 | CHA | Isaiah Jackson | 6-10 | F/C | Kentucky |
| 12 | SA | James Bouknight | 6-5 | G | UConn |
| 13 | IND | Josh Giddey | 6-8 | G | Australia |
| 14 | GS | Davion Mitchell | 6-1 | G | Baylor |
| 15 | WAS | Usman Garuba | 6-8 | F/C | Spain |
| 16 | OKC | Alperen Sengun | 6-10 | F/C | Turkey |
| 17 | MEM | Franz Wagner | 6-8 | F | Michigan |
| 18 | HOU | Ziaire Williams | 6-8 | G/F | Stanford |
| 19 | NY | Kai Jones | 6-11 | F/C | Texas |
| 20 | ATL | Josh Christopher | 6-4 | G | Arizona St. |
| 21 | NY | Tre Mann | 6-5 | G | Florida |
| 22 | LAL | Chris Duarte | 6-6 | G | Oregon |
| 23 | HOU | Jared Butler | 6-3 | G | Baylor |
| 24 | HOU | Greg Brown | 6-9 | F | Texas |
| 25 | LAC | Jaden Springer | 6-4 | G | Tennessee |
| 26 | DEN | Ayo Dosunmu | 6-5 | G | Illinois |
| 27 | BKN | Charles Bassey | 6-11 | F/C | Western Kentucky |
| 28 | PHL | Cameron Thomas | 6-4 | G | LSU |
| 29 | PHX | Johnny Juzang | 6-6 | F | UCLA |
| 30 | UTA | Sharife Cooper | 6-1 | G | Auburn |
Notable absentees:
Daishen Nix, 6-5, G, G-League
Miles McBride, 6-2, G, West Virginia
JT Thor, 6-9, Auburn
Nah’Shon Hyland, 6-3, G, VCU
Trey Murphy III, 6-8, G/F, Virginia
Marcus Bagley, 6-6, F, Arizona St.
Max Abmas, 6-1, G, Oral Roberts
Day’Ron Sharpe, 6-11, F/C, UNC
Roko Prkacin, 6-9, F/C, Croatia
Juhann Begarin, 6-5, G, France
Hayden Coombs 