NBA Draft 2020: Your 7 Most Burning Questions Answered

NBA Draft 2020 Your 7 Most Burning Questions (Cover Image)

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 Considering that those number vastly exceed the 60 potential picks, many players have withdrawn from this year’s draft.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

Maker Makur – Pacific Academy

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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