NBA draft: How to watch and what to look for

The NBA draft tips off tonight at 6 p.m. MDT. The first round will be aired live on ESPN and ABC, with the second round on ESPN. | Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press

The Jazz own the 30th pick in this year’s draft. Who might they have their eye on?

The 2021 NBA draft is tonight, and we’ve got everything you need to know about the night’s events.

When

The draft takes place July 29 and kicks off at 6 p.m. MDT. The first round (picks 1-30) will be aired live on ESPN and ABC, with the second round (picks 31-60) on ESPN.

Where

Though last year’s draft was done virtually, things return to normal this time around with the draft being held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Top picks

The draft lottery on June 22, decided the top 14 picks and awarded the No. 1 overall pick to the Detroit Pistons. The rest of the lottery played out as follows: 2. Houston, 3. Cleveland, 4. Toronto, 5. Orlando, 6. Oklahoma City, 7. Golden State (from Minnesota), 8. Orlando (from Chicago), 9. Sacramento, 10. New Orleans, 11. Charlotte, 12. San Antonio, 13. Indiana, 14. Golden State.

Analysts across the board are in agreement that Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham will go No. 1 overall. There also seems to be a consensus that the next five players selected on draft night will be USC’s Evan Mobley, Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs, G League Ignite’s Jalen Green, G League Ignite’s Jonathan Kuminga and Florida State’s Scottie Barnes, though the order of those selections is up for debate.

Jazz selection

The Jazz have just one draft pick in 2021, the 30th overall pick, the final selection of the first round.

Though there is not a lot of consensus on who will be selected once it comes time for the Jazz to pick, a couple of names have shown up in more than one of the most popular mock drafts as a possible pick for the Jazz: Miles McBride and Trey Murphy.

McBride is a sophomore guard out of West Virginia who showed huge improvement in his two years with the Mountaineers, including improving his 3-point shooting to 41% in his final season.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony writes, “McBride is a tough-minded, multipositional defender with good shooting indicators and plenty of upside to grow into long term. He’ll fit the Jazz culture and is the type of player who should be comfortable playing off stars.”

Murphy is a 6-foot-7 wing/forward who played two years at Rice before transferring to University of Virginia where he shined, shooting 50.3% overall, 43.3% from 3-point range and 92.7% from the free-throw line while proving to be a versatile defender.

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