OKC THUNDER

NBA Draft: Dyson Daniels glad to have OKC Thunder guard Josh Giddey 'in my corner'

Joe Mussatto
Oklahoman

Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey have known each other for close to 10 years. They rose through the ranks of Australian basketball together, and they were teammates at the NBA Global Academy in Canberra

“He’s a great guy,” Daniels said of Giddey. “He’s one of my good friends.” 

Giddey, a year ahead of Daniels, spent one season in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) before declaring for the 2021 NBA Draft, where he became the Thunder’s pick at No. 6. 

Daniels made his move to the U.S. a year earlier. He played for the G League Ignite last season, and like Giddey a year before him, Daniels is poised to be a top-10 pick in the Thursday night NBA Draft. 

“It’s good to have (Giddey) in my corner if I need to ask anything,” Daniels said Tuesday in his pre-draft media availability. 

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Team Barry's Dyson Daniels, of the G League Ignite, plays against Team Payton during a semifinal of the NBA basketball Rising Stars event, Feb. 18, 2022, in Cleveland. Daniels is among a growing number of players who are bypassing college basketball to pursue alternate routes toward their goal of playing in the NBA. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

Daniels, who has not worked out for the Thunder, is likely to get drafted somewhere in between the Thunder’s picks at No. 2 and No. 12. There’s a slight chance Daniels could slide to No. 12, but OKC will likely have to trade up if it wants to add another Australian to its backcourt.

Daniels, a lanky guard at 6-foot-8 and 199 pounds, is a flashy passer and a dogged defender. The knock against the 19-year-old is his jump shot. The same was true of Giddey, who shot 26% from 3-point range as a rookie. 

“I think we’re both really good playmakers off the bounce,” Daniels said. “We know how to make passes, finish around the rim, stuff like that. I think we have a lot of differences in our game, too.”

OKC Thunder draft chatter

► Former Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley has worked out for 11 teams. The Thunder isn’t one of them, but Wesley said he met with the Thunder on a Zoom call “a couple of days ago.”

► Wesley, projected as a mid-to-late first-rounder, said the Thunder “wanted to get to know me because I didn’t get to go there for a workout. I don’t know why, but they didn’t schedule me for a workout there, which is fine. Then after a couple workouts passed they asked me for a Zoom.” 

► Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one player Wesley models his game after. “I like the OKC Thunder,” Wesley said. “Young team, but they love to develop their guards. If they pick me, I’d love to go there.”

More: Here are 10 intriguing players OKC Thunder could target at No. 34 in 2022 NBA Draft

Notre Dame's Blake Wesley (0) guards Kentucky's TyTy Washington Jr. (3) during an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin)

► Jeremy Sochan and Jaden Ivey were high school teammates for a year at La Lumiere School in Indiana. “It’s funny, because back then he wasn’t highly recruited, I wasn’t really highly recruited,” Sochan said. “We knew our abilities, so I think that’s what’s most important.” 

► Sochan, a defense-first forward and potential Thunder pick at No. 12, has worked out for the Thunder, Spurs, Pelicans, Kings, Cavaliers and Wizards. 

► Jaden Hardy, who was teammates with Daniels on G League Ignite, has worked out with the Thunder, 76ers, Bulls, Hornets and Cavaliers among other teams. The 6-foot-4 guard led the Ignite in scoring at 19.8 points per game. 

► “I feel like the OKC workout went great,” said Hardy, who might be a reach at No. 12. Hardy said he met with Thunder general manager Sam Presti and coach Mark Daigneault. 

► Former Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji also visited the Thunder for a workout. “I got to meet everyone around the facility,” Agbaji said. “The workout was solid. There was a good group of guys there, too. Oklahoma City really made me feel in a home environment.” 

► Agbaji, another possibility at No. 12, said he “really got to see how (the Thunder) runs their day-to-day process.”