After acquiring the No. 29 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft in a draft-afternoon deal that sent Landry Shamet to Phoenix, the Brooklyn Nets had selections at Nos. 27 and 29 – and with those picks, they selected LSU guard Cameron Thomas (No. 27) and North Carolina center Day’Ron Sharpe (No. 29).
Thomas averaged 23 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game in 29 games in his lone season in Baton Rouge, earning both All-SEC First Team and All-SEC Freshman Team honors. As ESPN’s Jay Bilas noted, “dude is a shooter who is unafraid to take on any challenge,” and his 23 points per game led all Division I freshmen in scoring, and were the fifth-most by a freshman in a Power 5 Conference over the last 25 years.
The 6-foot-4 scorer made his mark on the LSU and SEC record books: he had the fourth-highest scoring average for a first-year player and the 11th-most points in a single season (668) for the Tigers, and was first in the SEC and seventh in the nation in field goals made (203). Thomas also led the nation with 194 made free throws, and his 88.2 percent FT percentage led the SEC.
Sharpe, also a one-and-done, was named to the 2020-21 ACC All-Freshman Team after averaging 9.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and nearly a block per game (registering a team-high 26) in 29 contests, despite starting just six and averaging 19.1 minutes per game.
Regardless, the 6-foot-11 bruiser was second on the voting for both ACC Freshman of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year (finishing second in both to Florida State’s Scottie Barnes, the No. 4 overall pick), and he was eighth in the ACC in rebounds and led the conference with 3.4 offensive boards per game. Sharpe also had a ratio of 15.8 rebounds per 40 minutes, the second-highest rate in UNC history.
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The Nets had acquired the pick earlier in the afternoon, dealing guard Landry Shamet to Phoenix for that selection and guard Jevon Carter.
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