Tennessee basketball: Where Vols are projected after NBA Draft lottery
It looks like Tennessee basketball will have at least one lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. The Vols are expected to have three players selected overall, for the second time in two years, and two first-round picks.
After the NBA Draft lottery drawing Tuesday night, a series of updated mock drafts came out. In all of them, Keon Johnson is a top 12 pick, and he’s a top 10 pick in all but one of them. The main team people have him going to: the Orlando Magic.
Jordan Greer of Sporting News did just a lottery projection and has Johnson going to Orlando with the eighth pick. Krysten Peek of Yahoo, who did a pick of all first-rounders, also has Johnson going in that slot to Orlando, along with Jaden Springer going 22nd to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN, who did a full 60-pick mock draft, also has Johnson in that pick. He has Springer going 29th to the Phoenix Suns. Despite going both rounds, there were no other Tennessee basketball players projected, but Yves Pons should at least be a second-rounder.
The Sacramento Kings at No. 9 are another popular projection for Johnson. Andy Katz in a special to Fox Sports has Johnson going in that slot. Other analysts who did full first-round projections also have him going there.
Brad Crawford of 247Sports also has Johnson going in that spot as well along with Springer going 26th to the Denver Nuggets. Gary Parrish of CBS Sports has the same projections for Johnson and Springer, to Sacramento and Denver respectively.
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Kyle Boone of CBS did not conform, though, and has Johnson going 13th to the San Antonio Spurs. He has Springer going to the Utah Jazz with the last pick in the first round. What’s clear, though, is that Tennessee basketball is likely to have two first-rounders no matter what. They should have three draft picks despite the ESPN mock draft, as Pons should land somewhere.