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FIL-AM JALEN GREEN TAKEN 5TH, KAI SOTTO REBUFF IN NBA MOCK DRAFT

American website Bleacher Report’s latest NBA mock draft sees Filipino-American Jalen Green to be the fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft.

/ 16 January 2021

On Thursday, the Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman listed Green to head to the Oklahoma City Thunder via the Houston Rockets at No. 5.

While Green’s NBA G League Ignite teammate Jonathan Kuminga is forecasted to come in at third where the Washington Wizards is projected to take the forward.

Ignite players Green and Kuminga are the only players from the squad pegged to be drafted in the first round.

In the website’s mock draft, Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State is currently pegged as the top pick of the year.

On the other hand, Kai Sotto and his other Ignite teammates Daishen Nix, Isaiah Todd, and Princepal Singh are not included on the list.

Sotto in December has earlier said that he doesn’t mind the mock drafts that don’t include him in their lists.

“I’m not putting too much attention to the rankings because I know what I’m capable of doing,” said Sotto during a virtual press conference last year.

“My dad always tells me to don’t think about it too much… just focus about your improvement as a player and as a person. For me that doesn’t really matter as much,” he added.

Team Ignite is currently in Walnut Creek, California preparing for the kickoff of the new NBA G League season set in February.

The squad will test their grit against 17 NBA G League teams to improve and hopefully increase their draft stock as the NBA draft is nearing.