Six Canadians to watch in the 2023 NBA Draft class

The 2023 NBA Draft is shaping up to be an exciting one, with French big man Victor Wembanyama and American guard Scoot Henderson stealing the headlines. But it's also looking somewhat barren of top-level Canadian talent, at least compared to the last few years.

In fact, it could be the first time since 2020 that no Canadians are drafted inside the lottery and just the second time since 2017. 

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t Canadian talent in the class. 

While Leonard Miller and Olivier-Maxence Prosper are the only two Canadians likely to be drafted by an NBA team on June 22 — especially after Purdue big man Zach Edey took his name out of the draft and chose to return to college for a fourth season — there are a number of other Canadians in the class who are not returning to college and will look to crack an NBA roster going the undrafted route. They are currently working out for NBA teams, trying to get a spot on a Summer League roster to then fight for a spot in training camp with hopes to achieve their lifelong NBA dream. 

Here are six Canadians to watch in the 2023 NBA Draft class:

Leonard Miller | 6-foot-8 Forward  | G League Ignite

Miller is the Canadian likely to get drafted highest in this class due to his intriguing combination of age (19), size (6-foot-8, 7-foot-2 wingspan), athleticism and finishing touch. 

The Scarborough, Ont., native caught the basketball world off guard this season when he averaged 18 points, 11 rebounds and 1.7 STOCKS on 55.4 per cent shooting in his first season of professional basketball playing for the G League Ignite.

Miller was coming off an impressive season of high school hoops with Fort Erie Prep of the OSBA, but nobody knew how transferable his skill set would be against bigger and better opponents in the G League, where Miller did not disappoint. The wing/forward has a knack for cutting and aggressively finishing around the rim, where he regularly sought out contact and finished through grown men at age 19. Most importantly, he also got better as the season went on, learning through mistakes and averaging 22 points, 13 rebounds and 2.8 STOCKS on 64/58/90 shooting splits in his final 10 games. 

Miller has to work on his three-point shooting (32.7 per cent) and his defensive awareness if he is going to reach his full potential in the NBA, but it seems like an increasingly good bet that Miller is going to be the next great basketball player to come out of Canada. 

Olivier-Maxence Prosper | 6-foot-7 Wing | Marquette 

Prosper is the most recent prospect to come out of Canada’s current basketball hotspot: Quebec. The 20-year-old wing from Rosemere, Que., a suburb of Montreal, has followed in the footsteps of fellow Quebec natives Lu Dort and Bennedict Mathurin. Prosper attended the NBA Academy in Mexico City for his senior year of high school with Mathurin before going to Clemson in 2020. His sister, Cassandre Prosper, is a great prospect in her own right, soon to enter her second season at Notre Dame. 

Prosper spent his last two seasons at Marquette where he developed into one of the best and most positionally versatile defenders in college basketball, regularly taking on the opponent's best scorer regardless of position. Last season was when it all came together for Prosper, who took a big jump on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 12.5 points and 4.7 rebounds on 51/34/71 shooting splits. In fact, Prosper is the prototypical 3-and-D wing prospect that modern NBA teams covet, giving him a good chance to be selected in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft. 

Charles Bediako | 7-foot centre | Alabama 

Bediako surprised a lot of people when he kept his name in the 2023 NBA Draft after just two somewhat underwhelming college seasons at Alabama, at least relative to the expectations. The 21-year-old Brampton, Ont., native was a high-level high school prospect at Ridley College in the OSBA before transferring to IMG academy in the United States. He was a consensus four-star recruit in his class before choosing Alabama over schools like Duke, Ohio State and Michigan. 

In his freshman season at Alabama, Bediako was named to the All-Freshman team in the SEC before starting every game for the Crimson Tide as a sophomore, making the SEC’s All-Defensive team as a dominant interior force who blocked 1.8 shots per game.

On offence, Bediako is a traditional screen-setting, rim-running big man who uses his massive 7-foot-3 wingspan to wreak havoc at the rim, but he is a developing shot-creator who needs to be set up for his baskets. Bediako is also a limited playmaker who averaged just 0.7 assists throughout his college career and will need to land in a spot that is patient with his development, likely getting reps at the G League level next season. 

Marcus Carr | 6-foot-2 Guard | Texas

Carr is going to give it his all to make the NBA after maxing out his college eligibility across five seasons. The 24-year-old Toronto native has all the makings of a backup point guard in the NBA with a skill set that has been thoroughly refined over the years throughout his stops at the University of Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Texas, as well as for Team Canada at the U16 and U23 levels. 

Carr is a very well-rounded point guard who uses his bulky frame to defend at a high level while being able to make plays out of the pick-and-roll and score from all three levels of the floor.

Last season at Texas, Carr averaged 16 points, three rebounds, four assists and 1.6 steals on 43/37/77 shooting splits in the Big 12. Plus, he led the Longhorns to their first Elite Eight since 2008 with a dominant showing in the March Madness tournament. The new father told me at the end of last season that the NBA is “definitely the ultimate goal, and I would love to try and play in the NBA, so I'm definitely gonna be working towards that soon.”

Nick Ongenda | 6-foot-11 centre | DePaul

Ongenda suffered a wrist injury the day before the start of his senior season at DePaul, one that would require surgery and only allow him to play in the team’s final eight games. But the 6-foot-11 centre with a 7-foot-4 wingspan showed just enough flashes of elite rim protection during his four years in college that he is getting attention from NBA teams as the draft approaches.

In fact, the 22-year-old Mississauga, Ont., native blocked 4.4 shots per game in the Big East last season, which would have far and away led all of college basketball had he played enough games to qualify.

Ongenda is an extremely mobile rim-protector who moves well for a centre, switching onto multiple positions and blocking shots with the best of them.

He averaged 12.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game last season but shot just 46.6 per cent from the floor despite not taking any threes, so he has to improve his offensive skill set to have a chance in the NBA. Still, a team might be willing to bet on his defensive upside because shot blockers like Ongenda do not come along often. 

Emmanuel Akot | 6-foot-8 wing | Western Kentucky 

Hailing from Winnipeg, Akot was considered a five-star college recruit before committing to the University of Arizona in 2017. But the 24-year-old wing had a turbulent college career, maxing out his college eligibility across five seasons with Arizona, Boise State and finally Western Kentucky where he played last season, averaging 10 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 41/32/71 shooting splits.

Akot is a versatile wing who can do a little bit of everything on both sides of the floor, putting the ball down as a driver and switching across multiple positions on defence. But he is without an elite NBA skill and needs to shoot better than 32 per cent from three if he is going to stick in the NBA.

Still, Akot has worked out for NBA teams and brings a lot of intangibles to the floor as a mature communicator and good teammate, so he could be the next Canadian basketball player to turn some heads in 2023.