The 2021 NBA draft is underway and the picks
have started coming out. This year’s draft has not thrown any surprises as the
Detroit Pistons picked up Cade Cunningham as the first overall pick of the
night.

Here is a look at the top three picks of the
NBA draft 2021:

Cade
Cunningham (Detroit Pistons): The first pick was with
the Pistons and they picked up Arlington born prodigy Cade Cunningham as their
choice. Cunningham is the 3rd product of North Texas to be selected number 1
overall in the NBA draft, joining Larry Johnson (1991) and Kenyon Martin
(2000). He also became the 9th North Texan to be drafted top 5.

Cunningham played college basketball for
Oklahoma State University and was named a consensus first-team All-American and
Big 12 Player of the Year after his freshman season with the team. He won a
gold medal with the United States at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.

Jalen
Green (Houston Rockets): The second pick was with the
Rockets and they snapped up Jalen Green. Green is also a FIBA Under-19 World
Champion from 2019 and played for San Joaquin Memorial High School for the
first three years of his high school basketball journey.

He earned MaxPreps Freshman All-American
second team and CIF Central Section rookie of the year honors. For his senior
season, he transferred to Prolific Prep in Napa, California. He helped his team
win the Grind Session World championship.

Evan
Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers): The Cavaliers picked up
University of South California star Evan Mobley as the third overall pick in
the 2021 draft, another Under-19 World Champion from 2019.

In his college debut for USC on November 25,
2020, Mobley scored 21 points and had nine rebounds in a 95–87 overtime win
against California Baptist. On March 11, 2021, at the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals,
he posted a career-high 26 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in a 91–85
double overtime victory over Utah.

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Although his team lost in the semifinals of
the tournament, Mobley was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Defensive
Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. He became the second player from a
major conference to win the trio of awards, joining Anthony Davis of the
Southeastern Conference in 2012.

Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors): In the first big surprise of the draft, the Raptors opted for the one-and-done wing scout and the best passer in the draft, according to New York Post. Nineteen-year-old Barnes played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles. Barnes was considered the fourth best player in the 2020 recruiting class by ESPN. 

Jallen Suggs (Orlando Magic): Right before the draft was underway, Suggs said that the teams that passed on him would regret it. But that was before he fell to the fifth pick. Jallen Suggs slipping to number five was the first surprise for the NBA Draft. In Suggs, Orlando Magic are getting an athletically gifted point guard.