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Australia's Josh Giddey taken by Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 6 in NBA draft

Australia's Josh Giddey will join the Oklahoma City Thunder after he was selected with the No. 6 pick in Thursday night's [ET] NBA draft.

Giddey, who recently debuted for the Boomers during their Olympic warm-up series, was at the Barclays Center in New York City for the announcement.

The 18-year-old point guard spent the previous season with Adelaide 36ers in Australia's NBL competition, playing 28 games before setting his sights on the NBA draft.

Giddey led the NBL for assists with an average of 7.6 per game and was later named the league's Rookie of the Year.

He joins the likes of Ben Simmons, Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes and Dante Exum among Australia's NBA contingent.

Giddey wasn't selected in the final 12-man squad for Tokyo, but has been earmarked by coach Brian Goorjian to play a key part in the future of the program alongside Josh Green, who was taken with pick 18 by Dallas Mavericks last season.

Giddey has been working with Australian basketball great Andrew Gaze, who played alongside the youngster's dad Warrick at the Melbourne Tigers.

His mum Kim also played for the Melbourne Tigers in the WNBL.

The draft is being held later than its traditional late-June slot for the second straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic that interrupted the 2019-20 season.