NBA Draft: Olivier-Maxence Prosper Offers Intriguing Two-Way Potential
All eyes were on the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night as fans watched to see which teams would get what picks. The Oklahoma City Thunder learned that they will indeed be picking 12th in the 2023 NBA Draft.
While it will certainly be interesting to see what direction the Thunder decide to go in with their first pick in the draft, it’s important to remember that they also own the 37th pick and 50th pick as well. Sure, second-round picks don’t hold as much weight, it’s still an opportunity to find a good basketball player.
And there’s one player in this years draft that might just be available at pick 37 that might make more sense than anyone else: Olivier-Maxence Prosper.
Largely thought of as a prospect who could go anywhere in the late part of the second round or even fall into undrafted free agency for most of the year, Prosper has been making a name for himself after a strong showing at the NBA’s Draft Combine, posting 21 points and seven rebounds in just 22 minutes in the opening scrimmage.
Prosper, who is a product of NBA Academy — a development program designed to find and foster international basketball talent — just wrapped up his third season of college basketball and his second at Marquette University. In his last season, he averaged an impressive 17.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per 40 minutes, while shooting 51.2% from the floor, 33.9% from deep, and a respectable 73.5% from the charity stripe.
Listed at 6-foot-8 with a confirmed 7-foot-1 wingspan, the Canadian talent offers great size and mobility at the forward positions and has all the tools to succeed on an NBA floor. Combine that with his incredible motor, willingness to shoot the ball, and his overall year-to-year improvements in college, and it’s easy to see why Prosper is finally receiving praise.
Defensively, Prosper offers exceptional upside.
He pays attention to his positioning and when help is needed he's ready to rotate over and use his size or wingspan to deter shots or poke the ball away, evidenced by his 2.0 steal percentage recorded over his two years at Marquette. Prosper also does a great job navigating around and fighting through screens to stay in front of his man, which also bodes well for his translation to the next level.
Prosper gives the same energy on offense, too.
He takes whatever the defense will give him whether that will be an open 3-pointer, an opportunity to exploit an open seam in transition, or even a backdoor cut. He’s not bothered by contact, either, evidenced by a whopping 51.5% free throw rate. In fact, Prosper doesn’t mind just going through even bigger defenders on his way to the basket.
While Prosper does need to work on some areas of his game, namely cleaning up his handle and smoothing out his jumper, he could be the perfect fit for a team who already has a lot of guys who can handle the ball and play-make, like the Thunder.
If Oklahoma City can land him, Prosper’s combination of energy, defense, and play-finishing ability would be a boon to the Thunder’s forward rotation, potentially allowing them to roll out bigger lineups heading into next season.
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