How to Watch the 2021 NBA Draft: Live Stream, TV Channel, Start Time

Find out how to watch the draft on Thursday. While there’s a sense of which players will come off the board first, the prospect of trades in the lottery has continued to swirl.

The 2021 NBA draft will take place Thursday night at Barclays Center, the home of the live event since 2013. The Pistons are set to open the festivities and are widely expected to take Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham first overall. 

A number of other freshman, including Gonzaga's Jalen Suggs, USC's Evan Mobley and Florida State's Scottie Barnes, are also expected to be among the players who will be selected at the top of the draft. Likewise, Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga, both of whom took part in the first year of the NBA G League Ignite program this past season, expect to hear their names called early.

Here's how to tune into the draft:

Date: Thursday, July 29

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET

TV Channel: ESPN, ABC

Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free) or via Watch ESPN, with active subscription

Among other prospects to watch for, forward Usman Garuba of Spain, guard Josh Giddey of Australia and forward Alperen Sengun of Turkey headline the list of international players expected to go in the first round. Sengun, who turned 19 just days ago, was named the 2020-21 Turkish League MVP and is expected to hear his name called within the lottery. Giddey, who was an elite playmaker in Australia's National Basketball League, is also widely projected to be taken in the same range. 

And while there’s a sense of which players will come off the board first, the prospect of trades in the lottery has continued to swirl. There’s still a great deal of intrigue and anticipation around the event and the outlook of franchises around the league could be vastly altered by Thursday's results.