The OKC Thunder do not have cap room, so a good draft pick is essential. Getting the highly talented Harry Giles at No. 21 in the 2017 NBA Draft can help the team build something around Russell Westbrook for the future.
The Oklahoma City Thunder could potentially draft the No. 1 player coming out of high school in 2016 in this year’s NBA Draft. His name is Harry Giles. The OKC Thunder need talent to go alongside Russell Westbrook, and when you get a top prospect coming out of college, then you did just that.
Without cap space, it will be hard for the Thunder to sign a big name free agent or trade for a high quality player. A lot of people think Blake Griffin makes sense, but that will be hard because of the Thunder’s need to clear cap room to make space for his contract. Harry Giles could a great substitute because of his ability to play on both sides of the ball.
Giles posted 23 points, 16 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.1 blocks per 40 minutes on the floor. He impressed especially with his play in the ACC Tournament, where he showed that he could play with some of the best big men in the country.
In the semifinals of the ACC tournament, he recorded four blocks in 15 minutes against the hated rival North Carolina Tar Heels to help lead the Duke Blue Devils to a 93-83 win. He was also able to get seven rebounds against a Tar Heels squad that is known to be the best rebounding team in the country with the likes of Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks and Tony Bradley. The Blue Devils went on to win the ACC championship.
Giles could pair up with Steven Adams in the frontcourt and play the power forward position. He is 6’10” and has a 7’3″ wingspan. He weighs 232 pounds. With his athleticism he could be a replacement for Taj Gibson, who has the same build as Giles and the same kind of motor.
The knock on Giles is the fact that he has had knee injuries that have hurt his ability to be on the court. For his only season at Duke, his freshman season, he was sidelined for six weeks when the college season was about to start after undergoing a left knee arthroscopy.
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Knee problems have been a problem for Giles’ young career. While in high school at Oak Hill Academy he had two knee injuries to both of his knees. The first one was in 2013 when he tore his ACL, MCL, and meniscus and the second one was in 2015, when he partially tore his right ACL a little while after the 2015-16 high school season started.
Having knee problems for a young big man is tough and he has not played much in a long time, so he may have a tough time transitioning to the NBA early on. But his talent is something that cannot be passed up.
It is hard to draft players that will not play, but the Philadelphia 76ers have done it, so it may be possible that Giles will eventually find success Joel Embiid (on a smaller scale, obviously). Embiid’s career was delayed two years because of foot injuries and he only appeared in 31 games last year. Then he slightly tore his meniscus against the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 20 and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
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Embiid is still in consideration for the Rookie of the Year award with his fellow teammate Dario Saric and Milwaukee’s Malcolm Brogdon. Giles, with his high level work ethic, hopes to have the same season that Embiid had this past year and then he will prove to everybody that he can play in the NBA after all. The kind of potential he brings to the table might be worth considering at No. 21.