NBA Draft Deep Dive: Reactions, surprises, analysis after a wild night

Looking back at the night that was in the 2021 NBA Draft. 

The 2021 NBA Draft is officially over. Boy, was it a wild ride. Multiple pre-draft trades set the stage, and the picks came fast and furious. By the end of the night, there were a total of 16 trades (combined pre and post-draft) and 60 draft picks.

I’m going through some of the key moments of the NBA draft this year. The trades, the surprises, the heartbreak, and analyzing it all. This is the 2021 NBA Draft deep dive.

NBA Draft recap: The storm before the other storm

While draft night trades can’t be made official until August 6th, there were seven “proposed” trades that were completed before the event started. None were bigger than former MVP Russell Westbrook going back home to California and joining the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wow.

This trade was historic for many reasons. It was the first time an MVP had been traded three offseasons in a row. It left the players with only four guaranteed contracts-  Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Marc Gasol. – all former All-Stars. It also gave the Lakers someone to carry the load if anything were to happen to LeBron or AD.

In my last article, I said the Lakers needed to acquire a star to catch up to the Milwaukee Bucks. They did just that.