NBA Draft 2021 returns to Barclays Center after year’s hiatus

The NBA announced Thursday that the NBA Draft will be returning to Barclays Center after a year’s hiatus caused by the pandemic.

. The Draft will be held on Thursday, July 29 beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.

NBA Communications

NetsDaily reported back on July 6 that there were indications that the NBA Draft 2021 was heading back to Barclays Center.

The Barclays Center has been the host arena for the NBA Draft from 2013 to 2019. Before 2013, the event has held at the Prudential Center in for two years. The 2011 NBA Draft included Kyrie Irving, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Fans will also be permitted just as they were in the NBA playoffs. Tickets will be available for public sale beginning Monday, July 19 at 10 a.m. ET.

The format will be the same as it has a previous years. Players being able to hear their name called, walk across the stage and grab their team’s draft cap before they embark on their NBA careers. The entire two rounds of the Draft will be televised on ESPN — with ABC broadcasting the first round

The Nets currently hold four picks in the NBA Draft 2021 — No. 27, No. 44 (from Indiana), No. 49 (from Atlanta) and No. 59 (from Phoenix). Whether that will keep all four picks remain uncertain. The Nets have not kept their own first round since 2013.

Although multiple mock drafts have made guesses on who the Nets might take, Chad Ford on Thursday became the first draftnik to specifically link Brooklyn to a prospect Thursday. He wrote in his latest mock draft that “There are lots of rumblings around the league that the Nets are targeting (North Carolina center) Day’Ron Sharpe at 27.”

Sharpe is a 6’11” 19-year-old known for a bruising game down low.

• NBA DRAFT 2021 PRESENTED BY STATE FARM® TO BE HELD AT BARCLAYS CENTER - Brooklyn Nets