Celtics work out six more 2021 prospects including Miles McBride, Sharife Cooper

The Boston Celtics upped the ante in terms of projected 2021 NBA draft stock in Thursday’s latest round of pre-draft workouts slated to meet with the team per reporting from Forbes Sports’ Chris Grenham.

Prior to today, virtually all the players invited by the Celtics to conduct pre-draft workouts with the team had been fringier players projected to be taken by teams in the middle of the second round to going undrafted, with many of them not hiring an agent to retain NCAA eligibility. The players from Thursday’s cohort of prospects are projected higher, from the mid-first round to the mid-second of this year’s draft.

Let’s review some basic information about each of the six prospects reported to be working out with Boston today.

Balsa Koprivica - Florida State - center

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While Koprivica is perhaps the lowest-projected prospect in today's cohort, he was once a top-10 NCAA recruit who has a 7-foot-4 wingspan to match his 7-foot-1 frame, with a soft touch and ability to protect the rim. He's not especially athletic or mobile however, and has yet to develop much of a game away from the basket, but has the raw tools to make for an intriguing second-round option.

Nah' Shon Hyland, VCU

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Mocked anywhere from the late first round to the middle of the second, Hyland is an intriguing if flawed offensive powerhouse. Extremely turnover-prone, the 6-foot-3 shooting guard has a solid 3-point shot connecting 37.1% of the time. He can get to the line and move the ball a bit, and can pick your pocket on defense if your attention wavers for a moment.

Kofi Cockburn - Illinois - center

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Another of today's fringier candidates, Cockburn is a mountain of a man banking on himself to remain in the draft despite two more seasons of NCAA eligibility. While he's like a freight train in the paint at 7-feet tall and 285 pounds, he's also very slow with no jumper of note. He's got good footwork, but will need to add to his game to be more than a third-string frontcourt specialist in the modern NBA.

Miles McBride - West Virginia - guard

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An elite point of attack defender, McBride is seen as going late in the first round to early in the second, and was a knockdown shooter with the Mountaineers, connecting on 41.4% of his attempts from beyond the arc in 2020-21. A little undersized at 6-foot-2, the Ohioan has solid playmaking chops that would fit well on Boston's second unit, though it's unclear if he'd be around late enough for the Celtics' second-rounder, and could be seen as a reach at No. 16.

Jordan Hall - Texas A&M - forward

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A 6-foot-8 point forward now hailing from Robert Williams III's alma mater after transferring from St. Joseph's, Hall is seen as a late-second round option if he chooses to remain in the draft. He logged 10.6 points, 5.9 boards and 5.1 assists per game in his freshman season at St. Joes while hitting 35.1% of his treys in 2020-21.

Sharife Cooper - Auburn - guard

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Cooper is by far the most interesting prospect of today's cohort in our opinion, the 6-foot-1 floor general projected anywhere from 16th (where Boston selects in the first round) to the latter third of the first round. While undersized for the NBA, Cooper has elite court vision, and recorded 8.1 assists per game with Auburn last season. He's very much a work in progress when it comes to scoring, but the Celtics have that a-plenty already. This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [lawrence-related id=52067,52065,52056,52055] [listicle id=52074]

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