During his pre-draft media availability, Auburn forward Jabari Smith Jr. confirmed that he worked out with the Oklahoma City Thunder and sounded really excited about general manager Sam Presti’s pitch to him.
“(Presti) is a great guy. Great background in basketball. He’s been doing it for a long, long time. So the visit was great. Got to meet the staff, meet the coaches, have some good conversations with him. So the overall visit was just amazing,” said Smith Jr. “His vision of getting back to where he was with that KD and Russ team. He sees they’re going in the right direction and that’s really promising to me. Everybody around there is just real high on what’s next for this team.”
Smith Jr. also fit that the backcourt of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey would help him out as they are great playmakers who could drive and kick out to someone like Smith Jr., whose outside shooting is one of his strengths.
The 2023 NBA draft is scheduled on June 23.
