The NBA draft is just under three weeks away, and OKC Thunder fans are salivating at the fact that they have not one, but two first-round picks in a star-studded draft class.
One name has been linked to OKC in more ways than one. From being projected to land with the Thunder in numerous mock drafts to working out for them in May, Yaxel Lendeborg could find himself in blue and orange very soon. If all goes as planned and the forward ends up being as good as the latest projections, general manager Sam Presti could have yet another hidden gem land in his lap.
The latest draft update came from ESPN, where Tim Bontemps and Jeremy Woo dished out player comparisons for the 12 projected lottery picks. The two analysts indeed had the Thunder snagging Lendeborg at 12, but it's his pro comps that should have fans chomping at the bit. The article tabbed the Nuggets' Aaron Gordon as a worst-case comparison and Hawks' star Jalen Johnson as his ceiling.
A Thunder-Lendeborg marriage could be a match made in Heaven
The comps aren't all that surprising. Lendeborg flashed his brilliance down the stretch in the NCAA tournament, where his scoring, court vision, and rebounding ability were all on display.
Any fan would be thrilled to have such a dynamic player on their team's roster, and someone of that caliber could fit into coach Mark Daigneault's rotation immediately.
The player comps are so reassuring, in fact, that fans might wonder how a player of such high caliber could fall so far down draft boards.
When taking into account that the college journeyman is already 24 years old, it's no mystery why most lottery teams would pass on such a talent. Out of the 11 teams drafting ahead of OKC, only one made the playoffs this season, and most of the other teams find themselves in the middle of a rebuild.
Adding someone who is already older than much of the league simply wouldn't make sense - unless you have a playoff-ready makeup like the Thunder.
With OKC ready to contend for a title next year, adding an NBA-ready player whose age rings similar to the rest of the roster sounds almost too good to be true. And if that talent has the multifaceted ability to make plays both with and off the ball, drafting him seems like a no-brainer.
Fans can only guess at what Presti will do with his two first-round picks, but rest assured, whatever he decides will more than likely be exactly what the team needs.
Add us as a preferred source on Google