Kai Sotto shrugs off NBA mock drafts: ‘I’m just focused on getting better’

Kai Sotto will get quality competition playing for the G League select team. —FIBA.BASKETBALL

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino NBA hopeful Kai Sotto isn’t one to dwell on other people’s opinion amid NBA mock drafts not listing him as a potential first-rounder.

It seems that Cade Cunningham will be the consensus top overall pick in 2021 NBA Rookie Draft while Sotto’s NBA G League Ignite players Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Daishen Nix going as projected lottery picks.

Of the mock drafts from Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports, none listed Sotto as a first-round selection.

Right now, though, the 7-foot-2 Sotto is just focused on improving his craft.

“I’m not putting too much attention to the rankings because I know what I’m capable of doing,” said Sotto in a virtual press conference Thursday. “My dad always tells me to don’t think too much of it and focus more on improving as a player and a person.”

“I’m just focused on getting better and, whatever, it’s their opinion.”

Sotto is part of the Ignite team in the G League that is aimed at developing high school players who decided to skip college and before heading into the league itself.

Sotto, Green, Nix, and Kuminga are the de facto poster boys of the NBA’s developmental system and a lot are already expected of them even before they play on the court.

For Sotto, he’s using every bit of time he’s got during the pandemic to develop as he knows he’s still nowhere near the level he wants to be.

“I’m still far behind. My dad always reminds me that I’m not good enough. I have to get better every single day. The NBA is full of the best players in the world so I’m doing my best each day to improve.”

“Everybody wants me to be more aggressive every possession. I have to get stronger and be more athletic because the game is stronger, faster, and players from 1 to 5 now play outside. I have to do my best to adjust to the game today.”