Historic 2019 NBA draft giving way to quiet 2020 for Canada

For the first time in 11 years Canada might spend NBA draft night without a single selection.

Though it is still early in the draft process, media evaluations have not come back particularly kind for Canada's top basketball prospects. There was not a single Canadian ranked in Sports Illustrated's top 80 prospects and The Athletic only had one Canadian — Vanier College's Karim Mane ranked No. 96 — in its top 100 prospects.

In total, there are six Canadians who have declared for the draft: Delaware's Nate Darling, South Carolina's A.J. Lawson, Florida's Andrew Nembhard, SMU's Isiaha Mike, Minnesota's Marcus Carr and Mane. While all are up for consideration, they have all retained their NCAA eligibility and could return to school next year if they believe that is the best choice for their basketball future.

Part of the reason for this year's talent dip has to do with last year's historic draft class. There were six Canadians selected in the 2019 NBA draft, excluding Luguentz Dort who signed as an undrafted free agent with Oklahoma City but quickly worked his way into the Thunder's rotation. All six of the Canadians selected were underclassmen but opted to leave college early to enter the draft.

If there are no Canadians selected this year, it'll be the first time since 2009 that the country has gone without an NBA draft pick.

While 2020 could see a dip for Canadian basketball, 2021 should restart the trend of Canadians selected in the draft. All of the Canadians who have declared this year could reenter the draft next season with more fanfare and some highly touted freshmen including Josh Primo and Keon Ambrose-Hylton at Alabama and the Canadians coming from the NBA Academy in Mexico could declare next year.