Stuck in his room during the G League bubble in February, Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti turned on the film of draft prospect Josh Giddey.
The 6-foot-9 pass-first wing in Australia was dazzling with his dimes, posting triple-doubles, and recording well-rounded averages to the tune of 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.
That time Presti spent in the bubble wasn’t just used on the young Thunder and OKC Blue players. He watched prospect tape, and this offseason, he told the Thunder website that his time in quarantine at the beginning of the bubble gave him a good idea of who Giddey was.
“By the time I left my room I had a pretty good feel for him,” Presti said to reporter Nick Gallo. “That was very helpful because it was just so consistent.”
Months later, that feeling was reciprocated. Early in the pre-draft process, Giddey had his eye on the Thunder. The Australian told Gallo:
“Ever since the pre-draft process started, Oklahoma is where I wanted to be. I said to my agent, ‘You’ve got to do everything you can to talk to these guys and get them to draft me.'”
The Thunder pulled the trigger, using pick No. 6 on Giddey.
Presti cited success of recent draft picks from the NBL when talking about his confidence in making the selection. LaMelo Ball won Rookie of the Year last season and R.J. Hampton made strides after being traded to the Orlando Magic and receiving more consistent playing time.
“That was really helpful actually in our evaluation overall, just knowing the level of that league and the way that Josh was able to impact it,” Presti said.
Giddey traveled across the world to join the NBA and landed where he wanted to be.
“This was a dream situation and my parents are over the moon about it,” he said.