Canadians Sharpe, Mathurin take different paths to NBA Draft

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – With draft night fast approaching, the best and brightest young basketball stars from around the globe are anxiously awaiting their fate.

Sixty of those players will hear their names called on June 23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Thirty will be selected in the first round and sign guaranteed contracts worth seven or eight figures, life-changing money for teenagers starting their professional careers. In time, some of them might even blossom into NBA superstars.

But first they had to get to this point. Ask 10 draft prospects how they got here, and you’ll probably hear 10 different stories. That’s how it goes and what makes the process of becoming a pro athlete so intricate. There isn’t one right way to do it.

Case in point: the two talented Canadian wings at the top of this year’s class.

Expected lottery picks Shaedon Sharpe (London, Ont.) and Bennedict Mathurin (Montreal) could become the second Canadian duo to ever be selected inside of the top 10, and the first since Andrew Wiggins (first) and Nik Stauskas (eighth) in 2014.

There are some notable similarities between the two countrymen. They both look the part, with NBA-ready 6-foot-6 frames, long wingspans, and elite athleticism. They can both shoot the ball and possess the tools to defend at the next level. They’ve each represented and won a medal for Canada’s junior national teams.

That’s where the comparisons end. Their unique paths will converge Thursday night as they reach the cusp of their NBA dreams, but they’ve taken very different journeys to get there.

Sharpe wasn’t even on the radar of NBA clubs when he left home after his freshman year of high school less than three years ago.

At 15, he was cut by Team