When Caleb Houstan elected to skip the NBA draft combine last week, speculation immediately started to swirl that the Michigan forward had received a first-round promise from a team.
Now, we know which team could have offered him that promise.
According to John Hollinger and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, the Oklahoma City Thunder were mentioned by those at the combine as the team most likely to offer such a promise.
Oklahoma City enters the draft with three first-round picks (Nos. 2, 12 and 30) and could have promised to take Houstan with the 30th pick. The organization has offered promises in the past so it is not out of the norm for them, as noted in the report.
Oklahoma City’s pick at No. 30 was the topic of other speculation. Michigan forward Caleb Houstan was notably absent from the week’s proceedings, with many league insiders suspecting he had a promise from a team in return for shutting down his draft process. Suspicion immediately went to the Thunder, given their surplus of picks and long history of making their draft pick in April. Houstan wouldn’t even be the first Michigan guy they did this with. (Hello, Mitch McGary!)
Houstan, a former five-star recruit from the Montverde Academy, averaged 10.1 points, four rebounds and 1.4 assists on 35.5% shooting from 3-point range in 34 games. He started in every game for the Wolverines and led the team with 60 3-pointers.
The 6-foot-8 forward was once viewed as a potential lottery pick but failed to live up to expectations. He declared for the draft last month and left open the option to return to school to gain feedback on his stock prior to the early entry withdrawal deadline.
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While Houstan may have received a draft promise, either from the Thunder or another team, he could have elected to skip the combine to return to school. He is projected to be a second-round pick by most mock drafts and may need another year to rebuild his stock.
Houstan has until June 1 to withdraw from the draft and maintain his collegiate eligibility so the situation will be worth monitoring over the next week.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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