Thunder draft prospect profile: Jordan Bone impressed at combine, could he be worth a flyer?
By Rylan Stiles
Awards and Honors:
- 2019 All-SEC second team
- 2018 NIT season tip-off all-tournament team
Awards and Honors thanks to Tennessee University Sports Information department.
Pro Comparison:
Jalen Brunson. The Dallas Mavericks decided to take the grizzled college veteran in the second round of last June’s NBA Draft selecting Brunson with the 33rd pick. Brunson, 21 at the time of being drafted, quickly turned 22 before his Rookie campaign. Despite his college resume teams overlooked him due to the perceived lack of upside.
The Mavericks and Rick Carlisle used Brunson to perfection, and he was able to turn into a player that was heavily relied on late in the year.
Brunson posted nine points per game, to go along with his three assists, and two rebounds per game. Brunson stroked the 3-point shot at a 34 percent rate.
Post All-Star Break, Jalen Brunson’s numbers shot up to 14 points per game. Brunson also saw his assists per game shoot up to 4.6 during that time.
Taking a flyer on a veteran point guard out of college is not always a bad thing, and at times can create flexibility.
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Current Ranking:
- The Ringer: N/A
- NBA DraftNet: N/A
- FanSided Busting Brackets: N/A
- FanSided The Step Back: N/A
- ESPN (Note: from a paid portion of site ESPN+): N/A
- CBS Sports: N/A
- NBA.com: N/A
- Sports Illustrated: 54
- Bleacher Report: N/A
- Basketball Insiders: N/A
- NBC: N/A
Fit with OKC
With the OKC Thunder, Jordan Bone’s best asset is providing roster flexibility. Bone is a talented prospect, but not a game-changing one, and the truth of the matter is you will be hard pressed to find a game-changing prospect in the second round in most draft classes.
However, the OKC Thunder do not need him to be a game changer, they just need him to be their roster changer.
If Bone can come into OKC and be a solid point guard right out of the gates ala Jalen Brunson, the OKC Thunder front office could feel more comfortable trading away current backup point guard Dennis Schroder.
Next. 2019 NBA Mock Draft 1.0: Best fit by team including a shooter for Thunder. dark
Getting off his salary and using him as an asset to bring a better fit into the fold in itself would raise Bone’s drafted value for the OKC Thunder.