College basketball coaches on the 2021 NBA draft’s best fits and biggest drops

It’s no secret that college basketball coaches and NBA front offices value different things when it comes to building a team. As one coach told me, “The NBA likes the unknown and birth certificates,” meaning a prospect’s untapped potential and young age hold more value in many cases than the track record of an older, established player. With a maximum four-year window for player development, college coaches much prefer someone who can help a team win now.

One doesn’t need to look any further than the fact that three first-team All-Americans were drafted in the second round of this year’s NBA draft, while the three players atop the transfer rankings earlier this spring — Kofi Cockburn, Marcus Carr and Remy Martin — all initially entered the draft before returning to school after realizing they likely wouldn’t be picked. The early 2021-22 Wooden Award favorite Drew Timme wasn’t projected to be selected, either.

But the different evaluation objectives do lead to interesting perspectives from college coaches about NBA draft prospects and picks — and so that’s what we sought out over the past few days.