This year’s draft put the spotlight on players and took away the light from others. Smart moves and risky moves took place during the draft as well as power moves made before the trade deadline.

As we all know, the NBA draft is where elite college players get the chance to get drafted into the NBA, and every year the top three players are talked about the most. 

This year it was Anthony Edwards, Lamelo Ball, and James Wiseman. The high motor slasher Anthony Edwards went first in the NBA draft. Out of Georgia ,Edwards is a two way player that can get up and down the floor.

 Second it was James Wiseman. The 6’10 stretch 5 was a much needed pick up for the warriors. There was speculation about wisemans availability during his college career, considering he didn’t play most of the season. I guess he is that good. Third went Sir Lemelo Ball, the kid we all know. Lemelo has been in the spotlight just about all his life with his BBB brand and his older brother Lonzo already in the league. The third Ball brother should not disappoint in the 2021 season.

Everyone who gets drafted into the NBA is obviously an elite talent. But for Myles Powell, elite talent is an understatement. A 6’2 guard out of Seton Hall Myles Powell was the #1 scorer in college basketball. I am truly baffled why he did not get picked up. Since Powell is an elite player, his noise did not go unheard, just a day later he received a walk on deal with the New York Knicks teaming up with another powerhouse top 20 pick, Cole Anthony.

Yes, the draft was going on, but so were trades. Without a doubt, the trade that caught everyone’s attention around the world was James Harden going to the Nets. James Harden is a top 3 two guard of all time, consistently dropping 50+ points a game the last two seasons. What’s the big deal about James going to the Nets? For those of you who don’t know, the Nets is already home to two more top 3 players in their position who can both score 50+ if need be. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The three most unguardable players in the league on ONE team. Now with all this talent on one team questions will come into play. Will they share the ball? Who’s taking the game winner? Are all three of them going to start? All these questions will be answered soon enough.

The next trade that raised eyebrows was the veteran Chris Paul to the Phoenix Suns. With Chris Paul and Devin Booker running the back court for the Suns + DeAndre Ayton at the five, they are looking like playoff contestants. The Suns went 8-0 in the bubble when basketball was at its peak competition, so adding Chris Paul will only  add another winning element, and give the younger players someone to learn from. 

These four takeaways of the 2020 draft and trade deals are just clues for what’s in store this NBA season. Expect competition all around the league and young players rising to stardom.