‘Baby Westbrook’ works out for OKC Thunder

Could the OKC Thunder buy into the second round with a view to drafting 5-year high school prospect Jalen Lecque who is being compared to Russell Westbrook? The team worked out the ‘Baby Westbrook’ this past weekend.

Although the NBA won’t implement the one and done rule stipulation for a few more seasons there are a few ways around it. Mind you few prospects take these routes. Current OKC Thunder wingman Terrance Ferguson did so by playing overseas professionally one season with the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL league.

Likewise, Thon Maker avoided college playing his season prior to the draft in a Canadian program called Orangeville Prep for the 2015–16 season. The Canadian school operates as a training center dedicated to the athletes while the second side of the school functions as the home of Athlete Institute Basketball Academy Bears. This squad plays in games in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA). Maker went on to become the first player (since the NBA banned direct drafts from high school in 2005) to be selected in the first round.

Now Jalen Lecque is attempting to do the same thing as Ferguson and Maker. Lecque spent his past year continuing his education as what would be deemed a high school student — his fifth such year. This was accomplished via his attendance at a New Hampshire prep school – Brewster Academy

He currently has a full scholarship on the table from North Carolina should he elect to opt out of the draft process.  Until it becomes time to make that decision Lecque is spending his time doing things like participating in the NBA Draft Combine and getting in workouts with teams who could potentially draft him.

One of those teams is the OKC Thunder who spent time with the youngster this past weekend.

The extremely interesting side of Lecque is he’s being referred to as the “Baby Westbrook” given his natural athleticism and similar abilities. You might be asking yourself why on earth would the OKC Thunder want a Westbrook mini-me. I guess the natural response would be who better to prep and help nurture Lecque than the genuine article himself.

https://twitter.com/SLAM_HS/status/1047141281363841024

As per Shannon Ryan of the Chicago Tribune both Lecque and Darius Bazley elected to try something different from the College year prior to their initial draft eligibility. Bazley’s choice was even more intriguing as he spent a year interning at New Balance (you know that name from Kawhi Leonard who is the NBA face of the sneaker line).

"Lecque, a 6-3 guard from New York, was a top-35 recruit in the 2019 class. He apparently performed well enough Thursday, recording the event’s top vertical leap of 43 inches, and opted out of Friday’s scrimmages.“There are other options to get here (besides college),” Lecque said. “I’m just trying to fulfill my dream of trying to get to the NBA. If I have to go to college to do it, I just want to get there and be successful there.”"

Lecque elected to not participate in the scrimmage portion of the Draft Combine which either means he was told he’s not ready yet or teams were excited by his potential enough to give a tentative promise to draft him. The fact he’s holding workouts post Combine would seem to indicate the latter. To wit, the youngster didn’t register top speeds but his jumping prowess was on full display at the Combine where he registered the top performance in the maximum vertical leap (43 inches) and his 35 inches placed second in standing vertical leap.

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For those asking about the ‘Baby Westbrook’ moniker, it extends beyond his athleticism and leaping ability. As per the above SLAM video he posted six or seven consecutive triple-doubles in games this season.

If the OKC Thunder surprise and do select Jalen Lecque it’s unlikely it would be with the 21st pick. Rather, it would require Sam Presti buying into the second round to acquire the guard.

Bottom line, the team doesn’t have a need for a point guard as it currently stands. Nor is it likely they would want to have him running the offense from a backup position. So, even if the OKC Thunder were to trade Dennis Schroder and also selected Lecque in the draft it’s far more likely he would spend a season (or at minimum a portion of the season) with the OKC Blue developing his skills and learning the varsity system.

For now, we’ll have to keep a keen eye to what direction Jalen Lecque elects to take as it’s hard to imagine he’d forgo a full scholarship without a promise from an NBA team. Likewise, it might be hard to imagine Sam Presti passing on the chance to land another Westbrook for the future.

The youngster has until May 29th to pull his name out of the draft and proceed to North Carolina.