While no Canadians went in NBA’s lottery Prosper a great fit for Mavericks and Leonard Miller will get time to develop in Minnesota
Article content
This year’s NBA draft was yet another good one for Canadians, with two more going in the first round.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Montreal’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper joined the Dallas Mavericks after Sacramento selected him 24th overall on Thursday before trading him to Texas, while Scarborough’s Leonard Miller somewhat surprisingly slipped to the start of the second round, going 33rd overall to San Antonio, who also traded him out of the Lone Star State, north to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Article content
Article content
All year the expectation was Miller was a near-lock to be selected in the top 30 thanks to a strong second season in the G League, but Prosper kept rocketing up teams’ lists thanks to impressive workouts. He will be tasked with helping to replace veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who went to Brooklyn in the Kyrie Irving trade, and has been missed. Dallas ended up missing the playoffs.
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
Prosper is seen as a ready-to-contribute prospect, especially defensively. Dallas also added the second-best shot-blocker in the draft in Dereck Lively II higher, so was lauded for a strong haul for the night. Lively will be a nice target for lobs from superstar Luka Doncic and can also help shore up the shoddy defence.
“The biggest thing is to believe in yourself,” Prosper told reporters at the draft of his rise. “There’s going to be people that believe in you. You’ll have people that won’t believe in you. All that matters is to believe in yourself and go out there and be yourself. At the Combine, my workouts, I was just trying to be myself, in terms of being the hardest worker, loudest guy on the floor, making all the hustle plays, playing defence and controlling what I can control,” he said.
Advertisement 4
Article content
“Coming in, nobody thought I was going to be here right now. But I believe in myself. I’m going to do this. I’m going to show them. That’s what I’ve done, and I’m going to continue to do that the rest of my career, no matter if people believe in me or not. That’s my mindset.”
As for Miller, it’s too bad he didn’t stick with Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, given how good that franchise has been at developing young talent, but the Wolves can be patient with the multi-talented big man. “My growth as a player has increased like no other from this past year, and then previously before this year, I’ve shown a lot of growth as a player. I’m going to continue to grow,” Miller said.
He will take some time still, though, and Minnesota has a lot of good forwards on hand in front of him. The Wolves had mixed success with Canadians in the past. Andrew Wiggins was good, but became a star only after being dealt to Golden State, while fellow No. 1 overall selection Anthony Bennett didn’t work out.
-
Leonard Miller, Olivier-Maxence Prosper latest Canadians set for big nights at NBA Draft
-
How the 2023 NBA Draft’s lottery unfolded
-
NBA MOCK DRAFT: What we’d do if we made the calls
There have now been 39 Canadians drafted between 1989-2022, including 21 in the first round. But those totals overlook how recent the boom has been. Since Brampton’s Tristan Thompson became the first Canadian-born lottery pick in 2011, there have been 11 other Canucks taken in the first 14 picks alone. This was only the fourth draft since 2011 without a Canuck taken in the lottery.
Article content
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Basketball News Click Here
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation