The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Spanish shooting guard Alex Abrines with the No. 32 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
Abrines is a 6'5 guard who emerged as an NBA prospect when he led the Spanish Junior National Team to a gold medal and earned MVP honors at the 2011 FIBA U18 European Championship. He is still only 19 years old and has been compared to Rudy Fernandez as a young prospect who needs to get strong but has fluid athleticism and decent size for the shooting guard position.
He carved out a small role for himself on FC Barcelona and played fairly well in limited action. He is considered one of the better young NBA prospects in Spain, so the reward of acquiring his draft rights is probably worth the gamble at a late stage in the draft. If he can refine parts of his offensive game and develop his body to deal with the strength and quickness of NBA perimeter players, Abrines could become a late steal in this draft.
Since he's just 19 years old, Abrines likely won't be able to contribute to Oklahoma City for another few years. Abrines will likely stay in Spain and develop before coming over to the Thunder. As one of the stronger Euro prospects, this could work out well down the line for Oklahoma City.
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