The NBA Finals are almost here, which means the NBA Draft isn’t far behind.
This is the first of a series of prospect previews we’ll publish leading up to the June 22 draft, which will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Each entry in the series will feature a handful of draft prospects separated into these categories: The “Thundery Guys,” The Shooters, The Scorers, The Combo Guards, The Wings and The Bigs.
Sure, some prospects could fit into multiple categories, but we’re going to avoid overlaps. By the end, the hope is to give a comprehensive look at the options the Thunder has with the No. 12 pick, as well as players — excluding the top-three of Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller — who might be trade-up targets.
Today, let’s tip things off with “Thundery Guys.”
And here’s what I mean by that: Positionless players with size, smarts, snappy decision making, creative vision and whose games, while sometimes raw, are hard to define or project, leading to low-floor, high-ceiling outcomes.
Josh Giddey was and is a Thundery Guy. Ousmane Dieng and Aleksej Pokusevski perfectly match the description. Jalen Williams came in far more refined as a three-year college player, but his size and versatility makes him an ideal fit for the Thunder’s system — or any system, for that matter.
Here are five Thundery Guys in the 2023 NBA Draft.
More: How OKC Thunder’s Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are approaching pivotal third NBA season
Anthony Black
Position: Guard
Height/weight: 6-foot-6, 210 pounds
College: Arkansas
Age: 19
Draft range: Top-10
A big-bodied, pass-first point guard with a lot of hair and a questionable jump shot? Sounds a lot like Josh Giddey. It also describes Anthony Black.
Black, like Giddey, reads the court like a chessboard. He’ll patiently probe a defense until he finds the right crack in which to thread a pass.
He also excels at using his size and strength to finish at the rim. Black shot 51% on 2-pointers but just 30% from three on 2.6 attempts per game.
Black shot 70% from the free-throw line, and as a freshman guard he ranked top-10 in the SEC in free-throw attempts.
Scouts project Black to be a plus defender both on and off the ball.
Black has regional roots. He went to high school in Duncanville, Texas, and he’d join Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams as fellow Razorbacks on the Thunder.
Black is unlikely to be there at No. 12, but OKC has the goods to trade up.
More: What might OKC Thunder do with 12th pick in NBA Draft? Here are possible trade-ups, targets
Jarace Walker
Position: Forward
Height/weight: 6-foot-7, 249 pounds
College: Houston
Age: 19
Draft range: Top-10
Not only is Walker a prototypical Thunder player, but he also fills a need as a power forward who could pack a punch next to Chet Holmgren in the Thunder’s frontcourt.
Walker is built like an edge rusher. A taller Lu Dort.
Walker is tough enough to bang in the post and quick enough to switch onto guards. You can tell he learned a thing or two about defense from playing under Kelvin Sampson as a freshman at Houston.
Walker’s defense is elite, but his passing and playmaking is why I consider him a “Thundery Guy.”
He has an uncanny knack for seeing the next pass before he even receives the ball. It’s easy to see Walker as a passing hub in the high post.
Walker is going to be a limited scorer unless his jumpshot improves. But there’s at least hope. He shot 35% from 3-point range at Houston on 2.8 attempts per game.
More: Former Sooner TaShawn Thomas knows all about Victor Wembanyama. They’re teammates.
Leonard Miller
Position: Forward
Height/weight: 6-foot-9, 213 pounds
Former team: G League Ignite
Age: 19
Draft range: Late-lottery
Miller checks a lot of boxes with his combination of length (7-foot-2 wingspan) and guard skills, thanks in part to a late growth spurt. Oh, and he’s Canadian. He could join the embassy in OKC with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort.
Miller has been a late riser up draft boards, and at this point it wouldn’t be a reach if the Thunder took him at No. 12.
Miller might need time to develop as he grows into his body, but that wouldn’t dissuade the patient Thunder from drafting him.
More: How did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander grow into an OKC Thunder superstar? Look to July 11, 2019
Rayan Rupert
Position: Wing
Height/weight: 6-foot-6, 193 pounds
Former team: New Zealand Breakers
Age: 18
Draft range: Late-lottery
The Thunder could make history as the first team to select two Frenchmen via the New Zealand Breakers in back-to-back drafts.
Ousmane Dieng in 2022. Rayan Rupert in 2023.
OK, Dieng was technically drafted by the Knicks, but you get the point.
Rupert would be a ready-made Thunder. It’s easy to dream about what an 18-year-old with a 7-foot-2 wingspan could ultimately become. Maybe a whiffed pick. Maybe a grand slam. Sort of in the Dieng/Pokusevski mold.
Draft experts rave about Rupert’s defense. Offensively he’s a bad shooter, for now, but has promising playmaking skills.
More: Tramel: Why the Thunder U. team of Durant, Harden and Westbrook was ahead of its time
Bobi Klintman
Position: Forward
Height/weight: 6-foot-10, 225 pounds
College: Wake Forest
Age: 20
Draft range: Late first round
If ever there was a team to draft a guy who ranked sixth in minutes on a mediocre Wake Forest squad …
(insert Sam Presti laser eyes meme)
Klintman, from Malmo, Sweden, has size and skills, and that’s about all anyone knows about him. Sounds like a Thunder guy to me.
More: ‘Being more efficient’ is an offseason priority for OKC Thunder’s Lu Dort
NBA Draft
7 p.m. Thursday, June 22, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. (ESPN)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder-types in 2023 NBA Draft? Meet Anthony Black, Jarace Walker
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