2018 NBA Mock Draft: What’s in store for the second round?

Spalding was a last second addition to last week’s combine, but it’s fair to say his entire college career has been building to this point. With the Thunder in desperate need of versatile depth at the forward position, Spalding is surely worth a flier this deep in the draft.

The first thing that will jump out watching the junior on the court is his explosive athleticism. We saw throughout this experimental “Big 3” season in Oklahoma City just how much better they functioned with Jerami Grant on the floor instead of Carmelo Anthony. The Syracuse product’s versatile defense and floor spacing simply offered the perfect role player cocktail that pushed him out of the way for Russell Westbrook and Paul George to take center stage.

The 3-pointer is not really a part of Spalding’s game yet. He was just 5-19 from distance this year, but his efficiency inside combatted his poor free-throw shooting to give him a .568 true shooting percentage. The scoring value is still a question mark, but Spalding is a tremendous offensive rebounder, grabbing more than 10 percent of missed shots on offense in each of his three seasons at Louisville. He has found ways to be effective despite his limitations as a shooter.

We know that Westbrook is going to dominate the ball, taking 20-30 shots per night. That really means the Thunder should be looking for defensive players who complement Westbrook on that end of the floor. Spalding’s rim protection would be valuable in that context. He increased his block percentage past 6.0 in his final college season, showing an increased sense of the timing and focus it takes to block shots.

This is a good match, especially at 57.