Well, that didn't take long. To show how truly year-round the NBA draft business is, the Oklahoma City Thunder are already looking ahead to next year's class. They are reportedly one of several teams that have sent representatives to Australia for a projected lottery prospect.
The Thunder are in Bendigo, Australia, for the 2026 NBL Blitz. The preseason tournament is from Sept. 2-6. They're there to watch Dash Daniels in person. The 18-year-old — who is Dyson Daniels' younger brother — is viewed as a lottery prospect for the 2027 NBA draft. He will play for the NBL's South East Melbourne Phoenix in the 2026-27 season.
Passing up college offers, Daniels has played in the NBL since 2024. He's spent time at the BA Centre of Excellence — which is an Australian
basketball training program. Since then, he's played for Melbourne United and the Sandringham Sabres. He's been an NBL Next Star during that time.
Daniels is a 6-foot-5, 198-pound guard. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 33 games this past season with Melbourne. He shot 37.5% from 3 on 1.5 attempts. He's viewed as a defense-first player who has great size for his position. As you can tell from the shooting numbers, his jumper is a work in progress and is fairly raw as a scorer.
It's still incredibly early, but the hope is that Daniels has a breakout season in the NBL. After foregoing entry into the 2026 NBA draft, he hopes his patience is rewarded with a lottery selection. Of course, recent years have seen the NBL-to-NBA pipeline gain steam. Notable examples include Josh Giddey, Ousmane Dieng, Alex Sarr and LaMelo Ball.
Even if the Thunder win another NBA championship or have a deep playoff run, they could be gifted another lottery pick in the 2027 NBA draft. They own LA's first-round swap rights; Denver's top-five protected pick; and San Antonio's top-16 protected pick.
In order to keep their championship window open, the Thunder hope their recent top draft picks could be next in line to be complementary pieces. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are mainstays. But the rest of the roster will go through changes.
Multiple NBA teams have representatives in Bendigo for the 2026 NBL Blitz to watch 2027 draft prospect Dash Daniels. I’m told the OKC Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, and Houston Rockets are here; the Miami Heat will arrive later in the week.
— Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) September 2, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Report: OKC Thunder keeping an eye on this 2027 NBA draft prospect
