Australian NBA prospects Brock Motum and Matthew Dellavedova failed to make enough of an impression ahead of yesterday’s NBA Draft, overlooked in what is widely being described as the worst draft in NBA history.
Motum and Dellavedova both produced impressive four-year college careers and compiled notable résumés with Washington State and St Mary’s respectively, but were left in the cold after having spent the past few weeks trying out in pre-draft workouts in the hope of catching the eye of an NBA team.
While Motum and Dellavedova have been left in the cold, New Zealander Steven Adams was taken with the pick #12 by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Despite playing just one season of college basketball, Stevens possesses rare height and athleticism and was therefore so coveted by a number of lottery teams.
The 19-year-old stands at a whopping 213cm, weighs 116kg and is set to earn roughly $US1.74 million as an NBA rookie.
“Thank you for all of the support guys,” Adams said when asked if he wanted to send New Zealand a message.
“I’m just doing it as a Kiwi.”
Motum and Dellavedova will have further opportunities to make an NBA roster and should play in the upcoming summer league showcase.
Motum is coming off a year in which he averaged 18.7 points per game, leading the Pac-12, but as a fringe prospect, and was forced to undergo 11 workouts with teams over the past few weeks.
Dellavedova started for Australia’s Olympic team in London last season, but still had to sit through the 4-1/2 hour draft show without hearing his name called. He tried out for eight teams- the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets.
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