'He had to do it the hard way': Olbrich on cusp of NBA dream

The stage is set for Lachlan Olbrich on Friday morning, Australian time, with the Illawarra Hawks standout firmly in the NBA Draft conversation.

It’s been an incredible rise for the 21-year-old, one of four NBL stars in contention to be drafted.

"[Lachlan] had to do it the hard way," Illawarra’s Chief Operations Officer Mat Campbell told The Illawarra Mercury.

"He had to go through the G-League camp, had to be selected for the proper NBA combine, excelled in that, and has been doing really well in the workouts."

Many draft experts have Olbrich being selected in the mid to late second round, with similar projections for Next Stars Alex Toohey, Rocco Zikarsky and Izan Almansa.

>> The Australian and NBL stars in NBA Mock Drafts

Incredibly, Olbrich was ranked 86th in ESPN’s draft rankings barely six months ago.

"In the combine, he played the right way and made the right basketball decisions rather than just trying to showcase certain skills,” Campbell added.

"It just depends on whether NBA teams want to take a chance on him being something special ... I certainly am very confident that his name will get called."

Olbrich averaged 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game across the Hungry Jack’s NBL25 season, playing a key role in breaking the Hawks’ 24-year championship drought.

The first round of the NBA Draft will be shown live on ESPN from 10am AEST on Thursday, June 26, with the second round airing at the same time on Friday.

Read the full story here >> 'His name will get called': Praise for Hawks' NBA prospect on the eve of 2025 draft