NBA Draft Open Thread: Start time, where to watch, Raptors info, and more

In 30 minutes we’ll have finally arrived at the first selection of the 2020 NBA Draft. That’s quite something to say in November, but no less true. Thanks to the long suspension of the 2019-20 season that delayed everything for months, the league’s off-season schedule has shifted in a big way. We’ve written much about it since March, and now here we are — with Georgia’s Anthony Edwards likely to go number one overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In that spirit, let’s look ahead to tonight’s extravaganza and get into the info you need to know — both for the event itself and the two picks the Toronto Raptors will be making at no. 29 in the first round and no. 59 in the second.

As per usual, here are your details for tonight’s NBA Draft broadcast:

Start Time:

8pm EST

Where to Watch:

ESPN (where else?)

Draft Order:

SB Nation put together one final mock draft which outlines all of the first round picks. Ricky O’Donnell has Toronto taking point guard Malachi Flynn (whom we covered here).

There’s also this clean summary here on Tankathon which includes all 60 picks (and the transactions that got them there).

Mock Drafts and Primer:

Our guy JD Quirante participated in the network-wide SB Nation Mock Draft too and picked 29th for the Raptors. He went with freshman wing Jaden McDaniels — with some analysis here.

If McDaniels is not of interest to the Raptors at no. 29, we’ve got nine other players who could be in play for Toronto’s first round pick. Will any of those players go in that spot? To be frank, who knows? The Raptors have made a series of surprising picks late in the first round as of late. Some have worked out (Pascal Siakam) and others... have not (Bruno Caboclo).

Worry not: we also got into some second round thoughts for the 59th pick here. This was back in the summer though, and things have changed since then. (Hell, in some cases, players have actually grown since then.) Just to pick a name out of a hat: Tankathon has the Raptors picking Ashton Hagans with the 59th pick — sure!

For the HQ Draft take on everything, check out our primer from earlier today. It includes the latest updates on workout info, mock drafts, plus a massive matrix summarizing many of the players who could be in position to be picked by Toronto. (Seriously, JD did a yeoman’s job assembling all that info.) Of course, it’s a bit of a crapshoot, but it’s our crapshoot.

And in truth, trying to predict something with this many variables — e.g. the 59th pick in the NBA Draft — is totally a blind guess at this point, and don’t let anyone tell you different.

Now, let’s watch.