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2021 NBA Draft to begin at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN

The 2021 NBA Draft will be simulcast for the first time. We break down when the first and second round could get underway.

By David Fucillo

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A general view the court with Black Lives Matter written above the NBA logo is seen at center court prior to the game between the LA Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers at The Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on July 30, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

It’s Draft day! The 2021 NBA Draft gets underway Thursday evening, with the Detroit Pistons going on the clock just after 8 p.m. ET. The first round will be simulcast across ESPN and ABC, and the second round will air exclusively on ESPN. Pre-draft coverage airs on ESPN starting at 7:30 p.m.

If you aren’t around a TV to watch the Draft, you can stream it via WatchESPN or the ESPN app if you have a cable log-in subscription. If you don’t, you can get a free or discounted trial from YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, AT&T TV Now, FuboTV, or Sling TV to stream the event.

Each team has five minutes to make a pick in the first round and two minutes to make a pick in the second round. We won’t see the full allotment of time used for each pick, but we can use those five and two minute numbers to figure out how long the draft might take. If everybody used their full time, the first round would take 2.5 hours and the second round would take one hour. That would mean the second round would get started at 10:30 p.m. and end at 11:30 p.m. It’s not going to take exactly that long, but that gives us a starting point for potential length.

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