2021 NBA Draft Preview: Moody set to end Arkansas' lengthy drought
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Arkansas will likely see a lengthy drought end Thursday night in Brooklyn.
Moses Moody is widely projected to be taken in the first 14 picks of the 2021 NBA Draft, which will be televised on ABC and ESPN starting at 7 p.m. CT, to become the Razorbacks’ first lottery pick since Ronnie Brewer in 2006.
What is a virtual certainty, though, is Moody will be a first-round pick - something Arkansas hasn’t had since Bobby Portis six years ago. He is one of 20 players to receive an invitation to the green room at the Barclays Center and SportsBetting.ag has set the over-under for his pick slot at 11.5.
Some experts, including ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, believe he could potentially go even higher and be Arkansas’ first top-10 pick in two decades - when the 2001 draft saw Joe Johnson go 10th overall.
“He’s a lottery pick and I would be very surprised if he’s not top 10,” Bilas said Tuesday afternoon. “I’m a big believer in Moses Moody. He not only has size, but he’s got great length - his arms go forever - and he can make shots.”
The first one-and-done player in school history, Moody is coming off a season in which he averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds while helping Arkansas reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1995. At just 18 years old, he was a first-team All-SEC selection and the SEC Freshman of the Year.
On top of his scoring ability, NBA teams are most intrigued by his length. Not only is he 6-foot-6, but Moody also has a 7-foot-1 wingspan that could help him defend multiple positions. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Khris Middleton and Mikal Bridges, the term being thrown around to describe him is “3-and-D” — a role many experts are confident he can fill.
"He’s got the length and the athleticism and the motor to be a really good defender,” Bilas said. “I think he had some really good games defensively and he seems willing, but I think he can really improve there. He can improve in every facet, but he’s already way ahead as an offensive player, I believe.”
Moody is known to have gone through workouts for Golden State, Memphis, Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Orlando and Indiana, plus he met with San Antonio Spurs at the NBA Combine. Those teams make up the 5th-14th picks in the draft, with most mock drafts having him in the 7-11 range.
The earliest Moody is projected in the well-known mocks is No. 7 to the Warriors, who have actually worked him out twice. The most recent of those was Sunday, when they hosted Moody, Oregon’s Chris Duarte, Baylor’s Davion Mitchell and Virginia’s Trey Murphy III for a “competitive two-on-two workout,” according to Sports Illustrated, in an effort to get more clarity on their pick at No. 14.
However, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman - who, along with CBS Sports’ Colin Ward-Henninger, has him projected at No. 7 - has reported that it’s unlikely he makes it all the way down to Golden State’s second pick in the lottery.
The team generating the most buzz for Moody is Orlando. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has him going to the Magic at No. 8 - up 10 spots from his mock draft just a month earlier - as do both of The Athletic’s draft experts, Sam Vecenie and John Hollinger.
Hollinger believes it’s a good fit because the Magic value length and could use a skilled player like Moody, while Vecenie has been high on him since March and would be “blown away” if he slips out of the lottery.
“Simply put, the feedback on Moody from teams has been very strong throughout the year, and it remains strong,” Vecenie wrote. “Teams see his 3-and-D potential as being extremely safe. Additionally, there are some teams that believe he has some real shot-creation upside given that he’s only 19 years old and extremely skilled.”
If the Warriors grab him at No. 7, Moody would be the Razorbacks’ highest draft pick since the Eddie Sutton era, when Joe Kleine went sixth overall in 1985. If he goes to Orlando with the eighth pick - or Sacramento with the ninth pick - he’d be the highest since Todd Day was No. 8 overall in 1992.
Originally outside the range where Moody is expected to be drafted, Memphis got back into the picture Monday by swapping its 17th pick for New Orleans’ 10th pick in a trade that involved a few players and other picks.
According to Givony of ESPN, the Grizzlies put Moody through a private workout in Los Angeles last week in anticipation of a move back into the lottery, so they could also be a landing spot for him. In fact, that’s where Basketball News projects him.
Even if he somehow slips out of the lottery, it seems like Moody would be quickly scooped up by the Wizards at No. 15. Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor and Yahoo! Sports’ Krysten Peek each have him getting picked there, which would reunite him with fellow former Razorback and Arkansas native Daniel Gafford.
Whichever team selects him will be getting an elite scorer who, despite sometimes struggling to finish at the rim, scored in a variety of ways. According to data shared by head coach Eric Musselman on Twitter, Moody shot 36% on catch-and-shoot 3s, 33% when contested, 46% when uncontested, 39% on 3s off the dribble, 55% on mid-range jumpers and 35% coming off screens.
That doesn’t even factor in his ability to get to the charity stripe, where he attempted a UA freshman-record 5.8 free throws per game and shot 81.2 percent.
There are still questions about his ceiling in the NBA, as he lacks the explosiveness and shot-creating ability seen in surefire future All-Stars, but he has the utmost confidence in himself ahead of Thursday’s draft.
“Honestly, everybody’s going to have their opinion and I don’t fault anybody for that, obviously,” Moody said earlier this month. “But I feel like I’m going to put the work in and do what I have to do.
“Anybody that doubts it, they might not know the length that I’m willing to go, the work that I’m willing to put in. I’m willing to do it and I’m going to do it no matter what anybody things.”