By Zyria Jessie

With the 2020 NBA season on the way, many fans were excited to tune into the 2020 NBA draft to see how things would pan out. Fans were introduced to a digital format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there was no red carpet for the potential prospects to show off their draft day fits, viewers were able to see the prospects react to them being selected at home with their families with their own unique setups. Many fans were happy with the picks made by certain teams, such as the New York Knicks selecting the hometown prospect, Obi Toppin 6th overall in the draft. Other viewers and fans were left with mixed emotions due to the surprise picks that were made during the night. Overall, the 2020 NBA draft was a success given the circumstances, but there were some key takeaways to keep in mind.

Bypassing The NCAA:

There is beginning to be a trend where NBA prospects are making the decision to bypass college. With it becoming more and more frequent, it begs the question: is bypassing college worth it in the end? Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley skipped college for an internship with New Balance ahead of the 2019 NBA Draft, while future NBA prospects such as Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Kai Sotto skipped college to join the NBA’s G-League Professional Pathway Program. Most notably Lamelo Ball and RJ Hampton skipped college for the National Basketball League of Australia (NBL) Next Stars Program overseas. Darius Bazley’s path to the NBA should be looked at as a success due to the fact that he was drafted in the first round in last year’s draft and played meaningful minutes for the Thunder as a rookie. We’ll have to wait and see how well the G-League program works out for next year’s prospects, but if it’s successful, it might give the NCAA a run for its money as more players will forgo college careers in search of a new path to the NBA. 

The NBL program has seemingly benefited LaMelo Ball since he was selected 3rd overall in the 2020 draft, but many were shocked to see RJ Hampton fall so far in the draft. Many mock drafts leading up to the draft itself were projecting Hampton to be a lottery pick, so to see him fall all the way down to the 23rd spot did not make his decision to skip college seem like it was worth it. Hampton’s case might be an isolated situation, though it is worth noting that many are calling him the steal of the draft for the Denver Nuggets. Bypassing the NCAA seems to be a great idea because you’ll still have a chance to make it to the NBA, but it would be wise for future prospects to take a look at the trends currently happening and to keep all their options open. 

Development:

Another takeaway from this draft is that the NBA must do more work on the development of its young talent. It is no surprise that the NBAs viewership numbers have gone down tremendously in recent times, partly due to the global pandemic. The 2020 NBA Championship had some of the lowest viewed games in the past 30 years. The NBA can not afford to have the quality of their product decline. With seasons quickly ending for various sports over the past few months due to the pandemic, it has made it difficult for the incoming NBA prospects to fully develop and make the most of the pre-draft process with scouts, coaches, and managers alike. There were a lot of unknowns heading into the draft, and NBA teams found themselves selecting prospects more so based on their potential as opposed to personal workouts and trainings like in years passed. It’s bad enough that a lot of the NBA stars sat out for the end of the season in 2020 due to injury and fears of the pandemic, but it won’t help the NBA’s views if these newly drafted players fail to reach their potential early on. Development will definitely be key heading into this new season, but it may be a difficult task to address due to the season starting in just a month. The way this draft class performs will be very important to the state of the league for this season and in the immediate future. 

International Talent:

This year's draft seemed to be loaded with international talent with eight international prospects being drafted from international teams in the 2020 draft. There were also eleven internationally born players, or players of international descent, who came to the states and were drafted. The NBA almost broke the record for the most African prospects drafted since the 2019 draft where we saw 9 players be drafted According to Cody Taylor at The Rookie Wire, the record would’ve been broken if prospects Mamadi Diakite, Karim Mane, and Lamine Diane were selected. With more international players being drafted in the NBA, it will help create a more diverse atmosphere for players and viewers alike and help even out the competition in international tournaments like the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Olympics.

Although many NBA fans like to annually declare the winners and losers of each NBA draft, no one will truly know who the winners and losers are until more time passes. This year's draft class operated under unique circumstances and it's best to just recognize the players that were drafted for their major accomplishment, and fans should encourage the overlooked players to keep giving their best instead of discouraging them. Now that the draft over, NBA fans are counting down the days to the new NBA season that starts on December the 22nd.

Zyria is a sports writer for La Tonique.