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Ahead of the NBA draft, former Auburn Tigers forward Isaac Okoro has earned interest from several teams selecting within the lottery and is even rumored to have received a promise from one of those organizations.
According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, speaking on the “Wine and Gold Talk” podcast, the belief among multiple executives is that Okoro has a promise but it is not known which team it came from. The speculation began once he backed out of participating in the NBA draft combine.
I talked to multiple executives over the last couple of days, and this isn’t confirmed, but there is a belief that Isaac Okoro has a promise. Nobody knows who that promise came from but there is a belief that Isaac Okoro has a promise and that’s why he shut down things at the NBA combine. He was scheduled to participate in interviews at the NBA combine, it got rescheduled once and then it got completely canceled.
Okoro is widely projected to be selected in the 6-10 range following a strong season with the Tigers. He was named to the All-SEC Second Team after averaging 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and two assists and is considered to be one of the best defensive players in the draft. He also projects to be a strong offensive player inside the paint.
The New York Knicks are one of the teams that have done a great deal of homework on Okoro and could target him with the eighth pick. Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said last month the Knicks have talked to quite a few coaches and trainers within the program to gain as much intel as possible on Okoro, though that isn’t uncommon ahead of the draft.
Of course, with just over one week to go until the NBA draft, the rumor mill will undoubtedly be active as teams make final preparations to better angle toward finding their guy.
The NBA draft is scheduled to begin on Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.
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