Brooklyn Nets 2021 NBA Draft Grades: Grading every pick

No. 29: Day’Ron Sharpe, C, North Carolina

With the pick they acquired from Phoenix in the Shamet deal, the Nets added a new center in Sharpe, who they had been heavily linked to throughout the draft process. Brooklyn lacked size and rebounding last year, and if we know anything about Sharpe, he can provide both of those things.

Day’Ron Sharpe could be an ideal center for the Brooklyn Nets.

Sharpe didn’t have tremendous production at North Carolina, and he lacks a reliable offensive game outside of the paint, but Brooklyn should be willing to put up with that considering how what a tremendously explosive athlete he is for his size. He should instantly take some backup center minutes.

The Nets could lean on a super-young, super-talented frontcourt of Sharpe and Nicolas Claxton. With the skinny Claxton’s versatility and athletic ability able to cause problems for opposing offenses, supplementing him with a steamroller like Sharpe might help the Nets get easy shots in crunch time.

Grade: A

No. 44: Kessler Edwards, SF, Pepperdine

Marks must’ve read my mind when this pick came around, because Edwards was one of the best-kept secrets still on the board at this point in the draft. The Pepperdine product was one of the best finishers at the rim in all of college basketball, and he paired that with a truly lethal 3-point shot that Brooklyn will love to deploy.

Edwards might not be the best athlete in the world, and the jump from the WCC to the NBA is a steep one, but he is an archetypal 3-and-D wing player that Nets fans will love due to his defensive intensity and smooth scoring style. Don’t be surprised if he skips the G League entirely and becomes a trusted bench piece.

Grade: A