MANILA, Philippines — It seems that having a full-fledged, homegrown Filipino talent in the NBA is coming closer and closer as Kai Sotto enters the NBA draft set next month.
According to his agent Joel Bell, NBA scouts were "very enthusiastic" about the 7'3" big man and had even secured a guarantee with one team that they will pick Sotto once the draft rolls on.
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"Teams that scouted Australia this year — which surprisingly, given the history of Australia sending players to the NBA is not as extensive as one might imagine — we're very enthusiatic about Kai," Bell said in an interview organized by Smart and NBA Philippines.
"That's why we have so many teams that wanna bring him in for individual workouts. And we actually already have commitments from at least one team that said if he stays in the draft, we'll draft him. We have that already," he added.
Sotto, 20, declared for the NBA draft earlier this year after a year with the Adelaide 36ers in the Australian NBL.
Though having been under the radar, Sotto has reportedly been scheduled to do workouts with multiple NBA teams — including the Orlando Magic who currently hold the No. 1 pick in the draft.
In his one year in Australia, Sotto averaged 7.52 points, 0.52 assists, and 4.48 rebounds per game with the 36ers.
Lately, the big man out of Ateneo high school has made it to the radar of mock NBA drafts. Recently, he ranked 49th overall in Sports Illustrated's predictions.
If the NBA team's word to Bell rings true, then Sotto is almost locked in to make it to basketball's biggest stage to banner the Philippine flag where he would join the likes of Fil-Am players Jalen Green and Jordan Clarkson.