Leonard Miller, Olivier-Maxence Prosper latest Canadians set for big nights at NBA Draft

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We’ve become accustomed to Canadians being selected in the first round of the NBA Draft and the trend is expected to continue Thursday in New York.

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Leonard Miller, who was born in Scarborough and started high school at Thornlea Secondary in North York before heading South, has been a dark horse to be selected in the lottery all season, but now Montreal’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper has been capturing the imagination of NBA teams.

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Though Prosper’s numbers didn’t really stand out in his lone season at Clemson and two at Marquette, his defence, intangibles and NBA-ready strength and frame sure did.

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A handful of great draft workouts (where Prosper impressed both on the court and in interviews) seem to have sealed the deal, garnering him an invite to the green room — a list that includes the 25 players expected to have the best chance of being selected in the first round.

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Miller also was expected to be included on that list, but hasn’t yet received an invite.

Before heading to college and after a stop in the U.S., Prosper followed fellow Montrealer and friend Bennedict Mathurin’s path to the NBA’s academy in Mexico City to finish high school. He has grown to 6-foot-8, weighs in around 220 pounds and has a 7-foot-1 wingspan with a non-stop motor and solid athleticism. Teams project Prosper as a plug-and-play, two-way wing — the type of player that is currently in huge demand. Add in his maturity and the fact that few work harder and you understand Prosper’s appeal.

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Both of Prosper’s parents were all-stars at Concordia University and his mother even played for Team Canada.

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Miller is regarded as a different type of prospect. He has a far higher ceiling (one of the highest in the draft, many scouts say, should everything pan out) than Prosper, and is both younger and taller. But he will also likely take much longer to make an impact in the NBA because he’s a former point guard who is adapting to growth spurts that have taken him to around 6-foot-10.

Miller, 19, has played well in the G League, both the previous season (when he toyed with the idea of entering the draft) and moreso this year, when he averaged 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.

Miller can handle the ball (thanks to his background as a guard), pass and rebound, but needs work as a shooter and will have to add a few pounds to his frame to play power forward or even centre one day against NBA competition (though he’s already far stronger than he appears).

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If Miller lands in the right spot, where he will be properly developed and not rushed, there’s a chance he could be an all-star one day. But his rawness and shooting issues are holding him back from being a sure-fire lottery selection because some teams lack either patience (because of the short shelf life of general managers) and faith in their operations based on past failures with prospects.

It seems rather obvious that both Miller and Prosper should be Top 15-20 selections (“he will prove people wrong,” one scout told me of the potential of Miller slipping), but you never know what will happen on draft night.

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Last year, the stock of two other Canadians started ascending close to the draft. In the end, Mathurin went sixth to Indiana and London’s Shaedon Sharpe a pick later to Portland. Later, Aurora’s Andrew Nembhard and Mississauga’s Caleb Houstan led off the second round, also going back-to-back.

In the past decade, two Canadians have been selected first overall (Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins) and another seven have gone in the lottery, including new NBA champion Jamal Murray and first-team all-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Of those past 10 drafts, only 2020 did not see at least one Canadian selected.

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