Go through the gallery to see Rod Beard’s NBA mock draft 2.0 for 2021. Click here if you have trouble viewing the gallery.
The countdown is almost done, before NBA commissioner Adam Silver starts: “With the first pick in the 2021 NBA draft, the Detroit Pistons select…”
Cade Cunningham should be the finish to that sentence, and the beginning of a new era in Pistons basketball.
More: The story behind Pistons’ presumptive No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham
More: Rod Beard’s 2021 NBA mock draft 1.0
That will kick off what’s expected to be a very deep draft, where several teams can kickstart their rebuilding plans with elite players at the top of the draft. The Rockets, Cavaliers and Raptors are scheduled to follow the Pistons, but there are rumblings that other teams are looking to trade up, and potentially offer a bounty of assets to get there.
Much of that talk tends to be smokescreens, but the first round could be littered with trades that change the landscape of the first round, including one reported Monday, with the Thunder and Grizzlies swapping top-20 picks on a multi-player deal.
It’s just the start, but the rest of the draft can be unpredictable as well.
rod.beard@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard