NBA Draft 2020: Your 7 Most Burning Questions Answered
The NBA Draft in 2020 is an enigma, with many questions lurking around it. In this article, we will look at the most important ones. So it is only natural that we start with the questions that both the diehard and the average NBA fan wants to know, is there star potential in this draft and is it deep?
1. Is the 2020 NBA Draft deep?
This year’s draft is a deep one and in a lot of ways. While there isn’t a surefire star at the top, like your Zion Williamsons or Anthony Davis’ of the past there are a lot of players who could potentially impact the league. In short, some prospects could be key role players, solid rotation players as well as potential All-Stars down the line.
The depth of the draft will probably mean that there are a lot of good players who will go later in the draft. This could be one of those drafts when we look back at it, that people might wonder why certain prospects went so low? You can realize the depth of the draft just by looking at the list of players who have declared and stayed in the draft.
2. Who declared for the NBA Draft in 2020?
During the early entry part of the draft registration, 163 college prospects and 42 international prospects applied. Considering that those number vastly exceed the 60 potential picks, many players have withdrawn from this year’s draft. Those prospects are:
POST GRADUATE PROSPECTS
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: FRESHMAN
Jordan Adams – Austin Peay
Kofi Cockburn – Illinois
Alonzo Gaffney – Ohio St
Darin Green Jr. – UCF
Tre Mann – Florida
Joe Satterfield – Ranger CC
Trendon Watford – LSU
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: SOPHOMORES
Timmy Allen- Utah
Joel Ayayi – Gonzaga
Jomaru Brown – E. Kentucky
Jared Butler – Baylor
Marcus Carr – Minnesota
Darius Days – LSU
Dexter Dennis – Wichita St
Ayo Dosunmu – Illinois
Both Gach – Utah
AJ Green – N. Iowa
Aaron Henry – Michigan St.
Jalen Hill – UCLA
Feron Hunt – SMU
Chance Hunter – Long Beach St
AJ Lawson – S. Carolina
Mac McClung – Georgetown
Andrew Nembhard – Florida
Xavier Pinson – Missouri
Darius Quisenberry – Youngstown St
Ja’ Vonte Smart – LSU
Ben Stanley – Hampton
Parker Stewart – UT Martin
DeAndre Williams – Evansville
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: JUNIORS
Abdul Ado – Miss St
Derrick Alston – Boise St
Marcus Burke – IUPUI
Jordan Burns – Colgate
Manny Camper – Sienna
Tamenang Choh – Brown
David Collins – S. Florida
Zach Cooks – NJIT
Jalen Crutcher – Dayton
Ryan Daly – St. Joseph’s
Nojel Eastern – Purdue
Mason Faulkner – W. Carolina
LJ Figueroa – St. John’s
Blake Francis – Richmond
Hasahn French – St. Louis
DJ Funderburk – NC State
Luke Garza – Iowa St
Jacob Gilyard – Richmond
Grant Goldman – Richmond
Jordan Goodwin – St. Louis
Jayvon Graves – Buffalo
Jay Huff – Virginia
DeJon Jarreau – Houston
Damien Jefferson – Creighton
Jalen Johnson – Louisiana
Andre Jones – Nicholls St.
Herbert Jones – Alabama
Corey Kispert – Gonzaga
Kameron Langley – NC A&T
Matt Lewis – James Madison
Isaiah Livers – Michigan
Denzel Mahoney – Creighton
Sandro Mamukelashvili – Seton Hall
Remy Martin – Arizona St.
Isaiah Miller – UNCG
Matt Mitchell – San Diego St.
Obadiah Noel – Mass. Lowell
Elijah Olaniyi – Stony Brook
John Petty Jr. – Alabama
Yves Pons – Tennessee
Colbey Ross – Pepperdine
Fatts Russell – Rhode Island
Aamir Simms – Clemson
Chris Smith – UCLA
Collin Smith – UCF
Justin Smith – Indiana
Mitchell Smith – Missouri
Stef Smith – Vermont
Terry Taylor – Austin Peay
MaCio Teague – Baylor
Justin Thomas – Morehead St.
Ethan Thompson – Oregon St
Jeremiah Tillman – Missouri
Alonzo Verge Jr. – Arizona St
Chris Vogt – Cincinnati
CJ Walker – Ohio St
Ibi Watson – Dayton
Jarrod West – Marshall
Romello White – Arizona St
Keith Williams – Cincinnati
McKinley Wright – Colorado
INTERNATIONAL PROSPECTS
Berke Atar – MZT Skopje (Macedonia)
Philippe Bayehe – Roseto (Italy)
Vinicius Da Silva – Prat (Spain)
Selim Fofana – Neuchatel (Switzerland)
Dut Mabor – Roseto(Italy)
Yigitcan Saybir – Anadolu Efes (Turkey)
Andrii Voinalovych – Khimik (Ukraine)
3. Who will be in the NBA Draft in 2020?
The early entry college prospects that have stayed in the draft are around 70, while there are still 36 international prospects that hope to be drafted. The list of prospects who have stayed in the NBA Draft process has some familiar college stars, freshmen phenoms, and mysterious international prospects:
POST GRADUATE PROSPECTS
Tony Goodwin II – Redemption Academy
Josh Hall – Morovian Prep
Michael Lenoir – Creating Young Minds Academy
Kenyon Martin Jr. – IMG Academy
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: FRESHMAN
Precious Achiuwa – Memphis
Cole Anthony – North Carolina
Vernon Carey Jr. – Duke
Anthony Edwards – Georgia
Josh Green – Arizona
Niven Hart – Fresno State
Dakari Johnson – Cape Fear CC
Nico Mannion – Arizona
Tyrese Maxey – Kentucky
Jaden McDaniels – Washington
Zeke Nnaji – Arizona
Onyeka Okongwu – USC
Isaac Okoro – Auburn
Jahmi’us Ramsey – Texas Tech
Cassius Stanley – Duke
Isaiah Stewart – Washington
Tyrell Terry – Stanford
Kahlil Whitney – Kentucky
Patrick Williams – FSU
James Wiseman – Memphis
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: SOPHOMORES
Brendan Bailey – Marquette
Saddiq Bey – Villanova
Lamine Diane – CSUN
Devon Dotson – Kansas
CJ Elleby – Washington State
Ashton Hagans – Kentucky
Tyrese Haliburton- Iowa State
Nate Hinton – Houston
Isaiah Joe – Arkansas
Tre Jones – Duke
Kira Lewis – Alabama
EJ Montgomery – Kentucky
Aaron Nesmith – Vanderbilt
Daniel Oturu – Minnesota
Reggie Perry – Miss St
Filip Petrusev – Gonzaga
Immanuel Quickley – Kentucky
Jayden Scrubb – John A. Logan College
Jalen Smith – Maryland
Obi Toppin – Dayton
Devin Vassell – Florida St
Emmitt Williams – LSU
Robert Woodard II – Miss St
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: JUNIORS
Milan Acquaah – California Baptist
Ty-Shon Alexander – Creighton
Tyler Bey – Colorado
Jermaine Bishop – Norfolk State
Dachon Burke – Nebraska
Nate Darling – Delaware
Malik Fitts – St. Mary’s
Malachi Flynn – San Diego State
Rayshaun Hammonds – Georgia
Jalen Harris – Nevada
Elijah Hughes – Syracuse
C.J. Jones – MTSU
Mason Jones – Arkansas
Saben Lee – Vanderbilt
Naji Marshall – Xavier
Isiaha Mike – SMU
Jordan Nwora – Louisville
Nate Pierre-Louis – Temple
Paul Reed Jr. – DePaul
Nick Richards – Kentucky
Xavier Tillman – Michigan St
Jordan Tucker – Butler
Nick Weatherspoon – Miss St
Kaleb Wesson – Ohio St
COLLEGE PROSPECTS: SENIORS
Udoka Azubuike – Kansas
Kamar Baldwin – Butler
Desmond Bane – TCU
Yoeli Childs – BYU
Mamadi Diakite – UVA
Kristian Doolittle – Oklahoma
Steven Enoch – Louisville
Jordan Ford – St. Mary’s
Freddie Gillespie – Baylor
Markus Howard – Marquette
Tyrique Jones – Xavier
Nathan Knight – William & Mary
Skylar Mays – LSU
Sam Merrill – Utah St
Myles Powell – Seton Hall
Payton Pritchard – Oregon
Grant Riller – Charleston
Lamar Stevens – Penn State
Jon Teske – Michigan
Killian Tillie – Gonzaga
Tres Tinkle – Oregon St
Breein Tyree – Ole Miss
Cassius Winston – MSU
Austin Wiley – Auburn
Omer Yurtseven – Georgetown
INTERNATIONAL PG PROSPECTS
LaMelo Ball – Illawarra Hawks (Australia)
Nenad Dimitrijevic – Joventut Badalona (Spain)
RJ Hampton – New Zealand Breakers
Killian Hayes – Ratiopharm (Germany)
Rokas Jokubaitis – Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)
Georgios Kalaitzakis – Nevezis Kedainiai (Lithuania)
Arturs Kurucs – BCVR (Latvia)
Yam Madar – Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel)
Theo Maledon – ASVEL (France)
Arnas Velicka – CBET Prienai (Lithuania)
Arturs Zagars – Joventut Badalona (Spain)
INTERNATIONAL SG PROSPECTS
Terry Armstrong – SEM Phoenix (Australia)
Henri Drell – Victoria Libertas Pesaro (Italy)
Karim Mane – Vanier College (Canada)
Abdoulaye N’Doye – Cholet Basket (France)
Aleksa Radanov – FMP Beograd (Serbia)
INTERNATIONAL SF PROSPECTS
Deni Avdija – Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
Leandro Bolmaro – FC Barcelona (Spain)
Sergi Martinez – FC Barcelona (Spain)
Louis Olinde – Brose Baskets Bramberg (Germany)
INTERNATIONAL PF PROSPECTS
Paul Eboua – Victoria Libertas Pesaro (Italy)
Biram Faye – DGSS (Spain)
Gytis Masiulis – Neptunas (Lithuania)
Kouat Noi – Cairns Taipans (Australia)
Aleksej Pokusevski – Olympiacos B (Greece)
Tadas Sedekerskis – Kirolbet Baskonia (Spain)
Borisa Simanic – Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)
INTERNATIONAL C PROSPECTS
Marko Simonovic – Mega Bemax (Serbia)
4. Who is the #1 Draft pick in 2020?
There is no clear cut #1 NBA Draft Pick in 2020. But by judging the majority of draft projections Anthony Edwards is the consensus first pick of this year’s draft. Edwards is a dynamic and athletic scorer who managed to put up a very interesting and impressive number in his freshman year.
A lot of people think he could be a dominant scorer in the NBA. If he improves his three-point shot scouts think he could be a more powerful, athletic Michael Redd. If he improves his vision he could be similar to D’Angelo Russell. But some think that his shot is broken and that we are looking at the next Josh Jackson.
But that is not set in stone. There is a lot of variance between the various mock drafts. This means that the draft order, even at the number one pick, might be unconventional and surprising. Let’s just hope that we don’t get another Anthony Bennett as the number one pick. The top ten itself is stocked with a lot of guys who could potentially go number 1.
5. Who are the top 10 draft picks?
According to a consensus big board from all over the net, the top 10 could potentially look like this: Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Deni Avdija, Obi Toppin, Onyeka Okongwu, Tyrese Haliburton, Killian Hayes, Devin Vassell and Patrick Williams. One of the biggest questions is will the Warriors at number 2 take another guard.
Lamelo Ball likes to shoot the ball like Steph, but many think that the Warriors will select athletic marvel, James Wiseman. This means that the Hornets at number three will have a lot of things to think about.
Will they risk it with Lamelo, even if they already have an exciting young point guard who could be a borderline All-Star in the years to come. Or will they go with the most intriguing international prospect, Deni Avdija? Many people are comparing him to Luka Doncic, but a few years away from the stat lines that Luka currently creates every night.
Another intriguing question in this year’s draft is what will the New York Knicks do at number eight. Some have suggested that they should trade down. But there are a few intriguing prospects that could fall into their laps at this spot. One of them is Devil Vassell, the sophomore shooting guard out of Florida State. He is one of the most talented three and d guys that we have in the draft in the last couple of years, and would fit perfectly with RJ Barrett. Vassell could surprise some people and even get to the level of Khris Middleton, according to some scouts who have him high on their big board.
At nine we have the Washington Wizards, a team that has seemingly lost all its mojo and hope for the future, and the draft lottery didn’t look too kindly their way either. While John Wall is back and looking great and Bradley Beal keeps improving and morphing into one of the best shooting guards in the league, the Wizards have a chance to add some really impressive big man talent in Onyeka Okongwu. If he slips to number 9, wizards fans should be overjoyed. Some advanced stats compare him to Karl Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis.
6. What day is the Draft?
The date of the 2020 NBA Draft is November 18th. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the NBA like the rest of the sports world has been in disarray. Everything has been pushed back by a couple of months, even the draft. This will be one of the rare drafts without a traditional combine.
7. What channel is the Draft on?
ESPN will show and virtually host the NBA Draft from their studios in Bristol, CT this year.
Concluding Remarks
Uncertainty has been the word that has marked this season of the NBA and that has also reflected on the draft. For a long time, we didn’t know if it would be held, but now we can finally focus on it with the attention that it deserves. There are a lot of prospects, both US and international that are fighting for their place under the NBA sun. While Anthony Edwards might be the potential first pick, there are a lot of other prospects that could turn out to be the best player coming out of this draft, for example, Deni Avdija, James Wiseman, or LaMelo Ball. Be sure to follow it all live on ESPN on the 18th of November.
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