Chris Paul is probably going to be a Hall of Famer. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is looking like the point guard of the future. But on Thursday, the point guard that people turned out to see was was 2020 draft prospect R.J. Hampton.
Hampton is likely to be one of the top picks next June.
The former five-star high school prospect is currently projected at No. 6 per ESPN and has long impressed scouts, coaches, and general managers with his athleticism.
Hampton didn’t have his best game against the Thunder, he scored just eight points in 30 minutes, making just two of his 11 shots and missing his only three-point attempt.
But both Chris Paul and Steven Adams were impressed by what they saw.
According to Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, Adams noticed the poise and knowledge that the 18-year-old Hampton displayed.
“He did a good job running their stuff,” Adams said of Hampton. “For a very young boy, being able to run that type of offense—there’s some offenses that are easy to run, just pick-and-roll, but then there’s a whole bunch of other actions.”
Paul, who is somewhat of an expert in talented point guards considering he’s been one of the best in the league for a very long time, sees a bright future for Hampton.
“R.J. looks good, man,” Paul said after the game Thursday. “He’s very talented, and I see why all the scouts and GMs came to see him play.”
The Thunder have seen the alternative route to the NBA work out with both Darius Bazley and Terrance Ferguson.
Instead of playing collegiately or overseas last year, Bazley opted to intern with New Balance prior to being selected with the 23rd overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft (the Thunder acquired his draft rights after a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies).
Bazley earned his first start against the New Zealand Breakers, scoring 12 points and pulling down five rebounds in Oklahoma City’s 110-84 win.
Through two preseason games, Bazley is averaging 10.5 points per game, hitting 47.7 percent of his shots from the field, to go along with 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Ferguson, meanwhile, also went the NBL of Australia route. After one season with Adelaide, the Thunder selected him with the 21st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
There has been an adjustment period with T-Ferg for sure.
Through two seasons he’s averaging only 5.2 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, but his numbers increased drastically from year one to year two. The point production more than doubled (3.1 up to 6.9) and both his field goal percentage and three-point percentage went up. The later rose by more than three percentage points—he connected on just 33 percent of his threes last season to 36.6 percent in 2018-19.
The Thunder could be in play for Hampton ahead of the 2020-21 season, and they have experience bringing along guys that haven’t done things the traditional way.
Oklahoma City has a stockpile of draft picks thanks to their offseason trades, three of those coming in the 2020 Draft. Two of those picks are likely going to come in the first round (one is from the Nuggets that is top 10 protected while the other is OKC’s own that’s 1-20 protected).
For a complete breakdown of the Thunder’s draft picks, click here.
