3 general takeaways from 2021 NBA Draft, from a Cavs fan’s perspective

With the third pick in the 2021 NBA Draft the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Evan Mobley from USC. It’s safe to assume that the front office considered Thursday’s draft a smashing success.

Overall, Mobley brings a lot of talent to the Cavs. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff commented on Mobley’s versatility and his ability to adapt to different defenses, via Ben Axelrod of WKYC.

Well, now that the draft is over, and we’ve officially closed the book on it, it’s time to take a look at how other teams fared in the draft.

I’ve covered a lot of players, and in a lot of different leagues, but I can honestly say I have no idea what the Toronto Raptors were thinking when they drafted Scottie Barnes with the fourth pick. I’ll just glaze over the fact that Toronto had the perfect replacement for Kyle Lowry in Jalen Suggs.

However, on top of that, Barnes is a bad shooter, and unlike Mobley, there’s not a lot of promise in his shot. He could improve, and maybe five years down the line, he projects to a high-level young wing. As much as I love Jalen Green and Cade Cunningham, the same cannot be said for Barnes.

There is still time to work this process out, but in all reality I just can’t believe they chose Barnes over Suggs. Jalen Suggs would have provided basically a seamless transition from Kyle Lowry, who is a free agent this year. So, it’s possible the Raptors have some moves in the works. But passing on a guy like Suggs is going to haunt them in the future.

At this point, the Brooklyn Nets plan has to be to find role players who can play right away in their system. With the 27th pick the Nets picked up Cameron Thomas. Thomas can be a plug-and-play-type player, especially in the Nets system.

With the 29th pick, the Nets knew what they were getting with former North Carolina big man Day’Ron Sharpe. Nobody in the country was better at offensive rebounding than Sharpe. Playing for a team like the Nets, he will be readily available to use when the Nets absolutely need a rebound.

I made it clear during the pre-draft festivities that I was enamored with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green. However, I was also high on Jonathan Kuminga, who may have landed on an NBA Finals team next year. A few weeks back, I wrote about how Kuminga might be a better fit in the Cavs system than Evan Mobley. I still believe that could be true.

That said, we won’t know what he can do until he steps on the court. Although, he got lucky when he landed in The Bay on draft night.

My favorite player of all the prospects I looked at was Moses Moody. I knew he wouldn’t go in the top four, so if the Cavs would have bought another pick or traded for one, he could have been in a Cavs uniform. Overall, Moody is a good shooter, and he has a 7-foot wingspan that makes him defensively versatile. What really turned me on to Moody was Mikal Bridges, though. And I think Moody’s career could be better than Bridges’.

In the end I want Moody to be more than advertised, I just wish he’d do it somewhere else.

Even so, it was a very interesting draft night. Some of the trades that happened mystified everybody. After a regularly normal first three picks, the 2021 NBA Draft took off at pick four. Toronto then threw a wrench into everyone’s plan by drafting Barnes.

However, as long as Toronto is happy with Barnes, I’m just as happy with Mobley as a Cavs fan.