Shaedon Sharpe declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft is important for OKC

The 2022 NBA Draft will be incredibly important for the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder as they attempt to rebuild this organization back into championship contenders. Sam Presti will have his work cut out for him with four picks within the top 35 selections including two lottery picks, a selection at 30, and 34. With lottery luck in 23 days, the entire direction of the Thunder franchise could change. The 2022 NBA Draft just got a whole lot more interesting with Shaedon Sharpe declaring for the NBA Draft after sitting out this past season at Kentucky.

“Who is Shaedon Sharpe?” That is what you are probably thinking to yourself, frantically racing through your mind, google spreadsheets, legal pad, or whatever half hazard draft prep you have accomplished to this point trying to connect the dots to Sam Presti’s next prospect prodigy. You put in the time, you stayed up until unreasonable hours, ignored work for a month straight, on your way to watching way too much March Madness and there was never a Shaedon Sharpe highlight package racing past your screen, what gives?

Well, the entire Sharpe saga would take an article the size of the Twilight Novels to explain but the gist is he graduated High School in May, but did not enroll at Kentucky University until December and for various reasons never found himself on the court for the Wildcats before shutting himself down as Kentucky would go on to lose to the 15 seeded Peacocks.

Sharpe, a London, Canada native has not played at any level higher than high school/AAU ball which makes him one of the most interesting, polarizing, and scary prospects in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Shaedon Sharpe declares for the 2022 NBA Draft, plans to stay in despite never playing in college

The Canadian stands 6’6 coming in at 175 at the age of 19. He is a supreme athlete that is shifty, soars through the air like an eagle, and can finish at the rim with his length and quickness. That length and quickness should also help him develop defensively, an area that he was horrific at in High School.

Let’s stop right there. That is exactly what makes Sharpe scary. There is a lot to like about Sharpe’s game, in my opinion, more positives than negatives, and being a bad defender in high school means relatively nothing as most players of his size, athletic ability, and promise aren’t engaged on that end of the floor in those lower ranks. However, we never got to see him assert himself in college. Which parts of his film were bad habits that will linger and which were just a product of his high school environment and being able to get away with the lack of effort?

He can be an elite shot-maker at all three levels, haul in rebounds, facilitate as a playmaker, and hit a growth spurt late in high school which may or may not mean he is done growing. While I buy into the film we have gotten to see from High School, it is fair to argue that sure, anyone of his explosiveness can look good in high school.

While defense and lack of experience in a true offensive system are concerning, when has Sam Presti ever been afraid of taking a swing? Sharpe checks many boxes for the Thunder. He is a great athlete, a playmaker, shows signs of being a versatile defender, Canadian, and “Kentucky” player, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already shouted him out on Twitter.

While no one can truly predict anyone’s future, much less someone with few data points as Shaedon Sharpe, the only clear thing is it gives Presti another prospect in this draft with superstar potential.