NBA draft: Sixers work out Australia’s Harry Froling who is hoping to break into the NBA

As the 76ers continued with their pre-draft workouts on Thursday, another Australian connection was added to the team’s ever-growing list.

Harry Froling, a 6-foot-11, 21-year-old Aussie, who spent one season at SMU before transferring to Marquette only to leave the next year for the NBL, Australia’s professional league, is putting all of his energy into getting on an NBA team and did not come by that decision lightly.

For some people playing collegiate basketball is the perfect type of preparation ahead of starting an NBA career, and many excel under those circumstances. That wasn’t the case for Froling. He struggled with the structure, the cultural differences, and the game in general.

“It just didn’t work out for me,” he said on Thursday after his workout at the Sixers complex in Camden. “When I started out in bigger games in the NBL I started off a little bit slow, obviously being a rookie and trying to find my feet.”

It didn’t take him long to figure things out. Froling closed out an NBL Rookie of the Year season with the Adelaide 36ers where he shot 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range, and once things started heating up he was holding his own against competitors that are well versed in the ways of the NBA.

“I think I had 23 on [Andrew] Bogut and I had 20 on Shawn Long, who was actually out here in Philly,” Froling said. “I started to play those high-level guys and got more confidence in myself and I had a really good year. Teams started to take notice and wanted to see me in person.”

Froling noted that it’s been difficult for teams to make sense of his lackluster college performance considering how well he’s done in the NBL, but that’s why these team workouts are so important. It’s often less about what the players do on the court during a workout and more about what makes them tick.

Since NBA teams started showing interest Froling has dedicated himself to proving he’s worth an NBA contract, and he doesn’t care what form it comes in. Whether it’s actually hearing his name called on draft night, getting stashed overseas, a two-way contract, or development spot in the G League, he’ll take it.

Froling has been in Miami for the last two months working with his agents and trainers trying to make the most out of his time in pre-draft meeting and workouts. He said during that time he’s already brought his body fat percentage down by five percent and has made his conditioning a top priority so that teams will know he is ready for an 82-game season.

If the Sixers are the team that decides to take a chance on Froling, making him the third Australian on the roster he’ll already come with a sense of familiarity. Froling’s father Shane played in the NBL and has known Brett Brown for years.

“I’ve known him since I was young,” Froling said of Brown. “And obviously you’ve got Ben Simmons and Jonah [Bolden], I played with Jonah back in the day on national squads. So the familiarity is really good.”

Whether or not Froling gets picked up by an NBA team in the draft or over the summer, the Sixers clearly have an interest in him and all the familiarity doesn’t hurt. Even if Froling ends up returning to the NBL, if he continues to grow his game and gain strength he’ll be on the radar for many teams looking young, strong, distributing big men who are ready to take the next step.