2021 NBA Draft: Mock 2.0, star power, trades, big risers
By Adam Kester
2021 NBA Draft Mock 2.0: Oklahoma City Thunder draft hulking big man Charles Bassey
Charles Bassey has certainly been a steady NBA Draft riser this season, and while some may see this as a slight reach, who cares?
The Thunder need some size in the frontcourt, and a lot of the other big man prospects in this range don’t have the same size as Bassey.
OKC gets one of the most physically imposing centers in the NBA Draft with the 6’11, 235 pound Charles Bassey.
NBA Draft – Charles Bassey NBA player comparisons
- Marcus Camby
- Jonas Valanciunas potential in the post
- Alex Len
Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Bassey played high school basketball in Texas before playing 3 seasons at Western Kentucky where he grew every year. Still just 20 years old, Bassey could find some early playing time.
Bassey isn’t the bounciest big man, he’s got nice quickness to go with solid body control. He also has a 7’3 wingspan, and that may continue to grow.
Bassey has made strides as a post scorer – Nice hesitations, dream-shakes, up-and-under fakes, he really studies the post-game and it’s shown on the court. He’s far from a one-dimensional player on offense.
He’s not going to be a shooter right away, but he absolutely has shown indicators that WITH good coaching, he could become a shooting threat later in his career in the same way that so many other NBA bigs of his archetype have developed.
For the immediate future, you do wonder if he’s going to be able to impose himself against NBA centers in the same way he did in college. He may take time, but most bigs do.
Bassey has potential to become both a low-post scorer, rim runner, and rim protector – not many other bigs in this draft have that feasible all-around ceiling.
It remains to be seen if he can be a big man who can effectively shade towards the perimeter, on defense but he’ll definitely be able to show off his “defensive anchor” skills in the paint.
Bassey finds a really nice landing spot in OKC where he can grow around their versatile forward group.