Thon Maker, Supremely Watchable Tall Teen, Declares For NBA Draft

Thon Maker, a 19-year-old stick figure with maybe once-in-a-generation basketball skills and a strong name, declared for the 2016 NBA Draft last night in this Bleacher Report video.

Scouts salivate over the 7-foot power forward who spins and shimmies like a guard, as if constructed in a lab to suit the modern league, which rewards hyper-versatile, ball-handling big men. The only hitch: Maker is currently a senior at Orangeville Prep in Canada. Given the NBA’s rules for draft eligibility—you have to be at least 19 and one year out of high school—whether or not he can get picked in June will hinge on whether the league buys his argument that he was actually a member of the class of 2015 who opted to do a postgraduate year.

He had to officially declare for the draft to prompt a response, and Maker and his family say they hope to hear back soon. In the meantime, let’s all enjoy this teenage beanstalk whirl through the paint for a few hundred loops. Thon Maker, Dunk Maker.

And a full set of highlights: