Baylor Bears George Picked 16 by Jazz, Flagler Signed by Thunder

George Taken at 16 by Utah

Keyonte George was selected 16th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2023 NBA Draft.

When the Jazz selected George, the Baylor Bears became the only program with a player drafted in the top 16 picks each of the last three years.

This is the sort of player success that keeps talent coming into the program. That, in turn, keeps Baylor in the mix year-in-year-out to compete at the highest levels for conference and national titles. And in college athletics, that’s the best you can hope for.

George has found a good situation in Utah, whose first year coach Will Hardy burst onto the coaching scene as the Jazz radically outperformed expectations last season. The Jazz played fantastic team basketball, something that George can slot into as a creator with passing vision for cutting teammates. Jordan Clarkson - the player most directly in front of George in the depth chart - enters this offseason with a player option and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. By drafting George, Utah has essentially given themselves a young, cost-controlled replacement should Clarkson depart in either this season or next.

Flagler Signs with Oklahoma City as Undrafted Free Agent

Adam Flagler, who was projected to be picked somewhere in the final ten picks if he were picked at all, has signed as an undrafted free agent with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Once the draft gets into the final ten or fifteen picks, it’s typical for players to tell teams not to draft them. Players do that so that they can pick their destination to some extent, rather than be locked into a non-guaranteed contract with whichever team drafted them.

So far, I have not seen any details on Flagler’s contact with OKC, but it’s likely either a non-guaranteed 2-year deal or a two-way contract that would see Flagler playing for the Thunder’s G-League team most of the season. Essentially, the Thunder are taking a flyer on Flagler, who will have a chance in the Summer League and perhaps pre-season camp to prove his value. If Flagler plays well in the Summer League but still does not make OKC’s final roster (which is very plausible, as the Thunder have a number of talented guards already on the roster), then he will have given himself a chance to be picked up by another team.

I will be tuning in to plenty of Summer League games in the coming weeks to see how our Bears perform. It’s always exciting to see the players we’ve rooted for move to the next level.

Sic’Em, Keyonte and Adam!