When it comes to the 2021 NBA draft, the biggest question with Kansas fans appears to be whether Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson will be in the pool of players eligible to be selected on July 29.
If they are, their KU careers will be over and Bill Self and company will move on without them.
If they aren’t, and either one or both players pull their names from the draft pool by the July deadline, therein allowing them to return to KU for another season, the Jayhawks’ 2021-22 roster will be that much more deep, experienced and dynamic.
But there’s another reason to pay attention to the NBA draft this season, and it’s not one that many KU fans expected to be tracking — Marcus Garrett has a legitimate shot of getting drafted.
The former KU point guard who said his final goodbye to Lawrence and KU last month, [appeared in The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie’s most recent mock draft on Thursday.][1]
Vecenie, who is without question one of the top two or three most thorough draft evaluators in the industry, slotted Garrett 55th overall to the New York Knicks.
There was no explanation given nor a breakdown backing the prediction for any of Vecenie’s second-round projections.
But it jibes with what I’ve heard about Garrett since he elected to throw his full focus on the NBA draft instead of entertaining the idea of returning to Kansas for a super senior season.
Nobody expects the 2020 national defensive player of the year to be a highly sought-after draft pick or the kind of player teams target and go after.
But Garrett is exactly the kind of player that might get a second look from a lot of teams. That’s largely what the second round of the draft is all about — talented teams looking to add reliable depth or others looking to take fliers on potential breakout players.
Garrett has a lot of things he needs to fine tune to be able to make it in the NBA. But his best trait — his defense — is NBA-ready and could inspire at least a couple of teams to consider giving him a shot.
That’s essentially what Vecenie is saying with his projection. Slotting someone 55th is hardly expressing full confidence that that player will be drafted. But when you consider the fact that Garrett has not showed up in very many mock drafts in the past two years, it’s definitely noteworthy.
Beyond his most obvious strength, Garrett has several intangibles working in his favor — terrific teammate, good size, versatility, maturity, high basketball IQ and adequate ball handling ability.
What’s more, it’s Garrett’s name and not Agbaji’s or Wilson’s that Vecenie has listed. And if he ends up being correct, I can’t imagine a more pleasing outcome for KU fans.
A guy they grew to love and cheered for for four years gets his shot and becomes the latest Bill Self player drafted. And two key pieces from last year’s squad return, presumably as projected starters in a new-look KU lineup that already has a ton of versatility and would have even more if Agbaji and Wilson elect to return.
There’s still a long way to go for all three players before anything becomes anywhere close to concrete. But July will be here before we know it.
**Other notable names in Vecenie’s most recent 60-pick mock draft:**
1 – Cade Cunningham, Oklahoma State
9 – Davion Mitchell, Baylor
12 – Kai Jones, Texas
25 – Jared Butler, Baylor
27 – Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Villanova
38 – Luka Garza, Iowa
41 – Greg Brown, Texas
44 – Matthew Hurt, Duke
51 – Austin Reaves, Oklahoma
60 – Quentin Grimes, Houston
[1]: https://theathletic.com/2554168/2021/05/06/2021-nba-mock-draft-4-0-davion-mitchell-josh-giddey-jump-into-top-10-plus-player-and-team-fits/
