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BROOKLYN — Bennett Stirtz's NBA dreams have come true.
The Memphis Grizzlies selected the former Iowa basketball star with the 16th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on June 23. Memphis then traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to multiple reports.
Here’s a detailed scouting report on what the Thunder are getting.
Stirtz is one of the more improbable stories among the first round picks in this year’s draft. He began his career at Division II level before making a meteoric rise to the Big Ten. After two seasons at Northwest Missouri State, Stirtz transferred to Drake, where he earned Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year recognition. Then he spent his final college season at Iowa, where he was an All-Big Ten selection.
Stirtz scored more than 2,300 points in his accomplished college career.
Stirtz was the centerpiece of Iowa's offensive attack last season, averaging 19.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. Stirtz exploded for at least 32 points on three occasions last season, including a career-high 36 against Northwestern.
What makes Stirtz’s scoring even more impressive is his efficiency. Stirtz finished his senior season shooting 47.7% from the field, 35.8% from deep and 84.8% from the free throw line. Stirtz shot 12-of-15 from the field against Oregon, 8-of-10 against UCLA and 8-of-11 against Ohio State.
Stirtz was able to be a high-volume, efficient scorer despite the fact that he attracted so much attention from opposing defenses. While Stirtz proved he could make tough shots — a valuable skill for the NBA — it should be fun to see what Stirtz can do in an environment where he isn't necessarily atop the scouting report.
Stirtz is not an overwhelming athlete, but his decision-making and craftiness with the ball are part of what make him a lethal playmaker. He plays the game at his own speed and it’s not easy to get him flustered. Stirtz is a maestro in ball-screen actions, which was a staple for the Hawkeyes’ offense last season. But there is some skepticism about whether Stirtz has enough burst to consistently beat bigger, more athletic defenders off the dribble in the NBA if he doesn’t get a ball screen to gain an advantage.
Stirtz measured 6-foot-2 1/2 barefoot at the NBA Combine, which puts him around 6-foot-4 with shoes on and gives him solid size for a guard. Stirtz has said he sees similarities in his game to the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ty Jerome.
Another asset that Stirtz brings to the table is shooting. His 3-point percentage was still near 40% toward the end of February, but that declined in the latter stages of the season. Considering how much attention he drew from opposing defenses and the fact that he was playing such heavy minutes, it's not shocking that Stirtz's 3-point shooting trended down during the stretch run.
"I feel like I'm the best shooter in this draft and I want to prove that my whole basketball career," Stirtz said at the 2026 NBA Combine. "It just starts with your work ethic and getting up as many shots as you can."
Stirtz was a marathon man of sorts during his college career. After averaging 39.4 minutes per game at Drake, Stirtz saw only a slight dip at Iowa, logging 37.7 minutes per game. Iowa head coach Ben McCollum has a track record of playing his guards heavy minutes, and Stirtz was no exception to that. In a win over Nebraska in February, Iowa tracked Stirtz covering approximately 5.9 miles during the duration of the game.
Incredibly, Stirtz never missed a game in his college career, appearing in all 140 of the possible 140 contests across four seasons.
That can be viewed in different ways.
On one hand, there’s already serious tread on his tires compared to a younger player. Stirtz, who is 22 on draft night, is an older prospect. But on the other hand, the NBA regular season, which spans 82 games, can be a grind, and Stirtz has shown that he can stay healthy and handle a hefty workload.
While Stirtz played at three schools in four seasons, it’s not like he was using the transfer portal to program-hop with questionable motives. Stirtz played for the same head coach his entire college career, showing loyalty to McCollum, the man who believed in him as an overlooked high school prospect.
Stirtz did a lot of winning in his college career. His teams won at least 24 games in each of the four seasons, including 31 twice. And look no further at what Iowa did last season.
McCollum took over a program that hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2023 and hadn't won a single game in the Big Dance since 2021. But in his first season at the helm, the Hawkeyes advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987. Iowa would not have been in that position if it weren’t for everything Stirtz provided over the course of the season.
Part of Stirtz's Hawkeye legacy will be that he helped lay the foundation for the start of the McCollum era.
There is reason to believe that Stirtz can make the jump to the NBA because he has already successfully taken a step up in competition multiple times during his college career. Stirtz’s numbers actually improved when he moved from Northwest Missouri State to Drake. Stirtz made the transition to Iowa look remarkably seamless, and his production was not all that different from what it had been at Drake.
Stirtz wants to show that he can be an off-the-ball option, something that he wasn’t able to do much at Iowa simply because the Hawkeyes needed him to shoulder much of the playmaking burden. But Stirtz might very well be capable of delivering positional flexibility as an NBA guard — with the ability to create offense as the primary ball-handler and also benefit from the playmaking of others as a spot-up shooter.
"I want to showcase that I can play off the ball," Stirtz said. "I had the ball in my hands a lot this season. But I think my IQ really helps me playing off the ball, and being able to shoot at a high level really helps me as well."
Defense is a question that came up to Stirtz during the pre-Draft process. Stirtz is not the most explosive athlete, which puts him at risk of being exposed more in the NBA than he was in college. But Stirtz believes that his defense is underrated. He has shown he can be a pesky defender, averaging a career-high 2.1 steals per game at Drake.
Stirtz does not need to be an elite defender in the NBA. As long as he proves his value offensively, Stirtz just needs to be serviceable defensively.
There is a path for that to come to fruition.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: What the Thunder are getting in 2026 NBA Draft pick Bennett Stirtz
Continue reading...
The Memphis Grizzlies selected the former Iowa basketball star with the 16th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on June 23. Memphis then traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to multiple reports.
Here’s a detailed scouting report on what the Thunder are getting.
Offensive playmaking
Stirtz is one of the more improbable stories among the first round picks in this year’s draft. He began his career at Division II level before making a meteoric rise to the Big Ten. After two seasons at Northwest Missouri State, Stirtz transferred to Drake, where he earned Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year recognition. Then he spent his final college season at Iowa, where he was an All-Big Ten selection.
Stirtz scored more than 2,300 points in his accomplished college career.
Stirtz was the centerpiece of Iowa's offensive attack last season, averaging 19.8 points, 4.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. Stirtz exploded for at least 32 points on three occasions last season, including a career-high 36 against Northwestern.
What makes Stirtz’s scoring even more impressive is his efficiency. Stirtz finished his senior season shooting 47.7% from the field, 35.8% from deep and 84.8% from the free throw line. Stirtz shot 12-of-15 from the field against Oregon, 8-of-10 against UCLA and 8-of-11 against Ohio State.
Stirtz was able to be a high-volume, efficient scorer despite the fact that he attracted so much attention from opposing defenses. While Stirtz proved he could make tough shots — a valuable skill for the NBA — it should be fun to see what Stirtz can do in an environment where he isn't necessarily atop the scouting report.
Stirtz is not an overwhelming athlete, but his decision-making and craftiness with the ball are part of what make him a lethal playmaker. He plays the game at his own speed and it’s not easy to get him flustered. Stirtz is a maestro in ball-screen actions, which was a staple for the Hawkeyes’ offense last season. But there is some skepticism about whether Stirtz has enough burst to consistently beat bigger, more athletic defenders off the dribble in the NBA if he doesn’t get a ball screen to gain an advantage.
Stirtz measured 6-foot-2 1/2 barefoot at the NBA Combine, which puts him around 6-foot-4 with shoes on and gives him solid size for a guard. Stirtz has said he sees similarities in his game to the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ty Jerome.
Another asset that Stirtz brings to the table is shooting. His 3-point percentage was still near 40% toward the end of February, but that declined in the latter stages of the season. Considering how much attention he drew from opposing defenses and the fact that he was playing such heavy minutes, it's not shocking that Stirtz's 3-point shooting trended down during the stretch run.
"I feel like I'm the best shooter in this draft and I want to prove that my whole basketball career," Stirtz said at the 2026 NBA Combine. "It just starts with your work ethic and getting up as many shots as you can."
Digging deeper than scoring
Stirtz was a marathon man of sorts during his college career. After averaging 39.4 minutes per game at Drake, Stirtz saw only a slight dip at Iowa, logging 37.7 minutes per game. Iowa head coach Ben McCollum has a track record of playing his guards heavy minutes, and Stirtz was no exception to that. In a win over Nebraska in February, Iowa tracked Stirtz covering approximately 5.9 miles during the duration of the game.
Incredibly, Stirtz never missed a game in his college career, appearing in all 140 of the possible 140 contests across four seasons.
That can be viewed in different ways.
On one hand, there’s already serious tread on his tires compared to a younger player. Stirtz, who is 22 on draft night, is an older prospect. But on the other hand, the NBA regular season, which spans 82 games, can be a grind, and Stirtz has shown that he can stay healthy and handle a hefty workload.
While Stirtz played at three schools in four seasons, it’s not like he was using the transfer portal to program-hop with questionable motives. Stirtz played for the same head coach his entire college career, showing loyalty to McCollum, the man who believed in him as an overlooked high school prospect.
Stirtz did a lot of winning in his college career. His teams won at least 24 games in each of the four seasons, including 31 twice. And look no further at what Iowa did last season.
McCollum took over a program that hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 2023 and hadn't won a single game in the Big Dance since 2021. But in his first season at the helm, the Hawkeyes advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1987. Iowa would not have been in that position if it weren’t for everything Stirtz provided over the course of the season.
Part of Stirtz's Hawkeye legacy will be that he helped lay the foundation for the start of the McCollum era.
Wild cards
There is reason to believe that Stirtz can make the jump to the NBA because he has already successfully taken a step up in competition multiple times during his college career. Stirtz’s numbers actually improved when he moved from Northwest Missouri State to Drake. Stirtz made the transition to Iowa look remarkably seamless, and his production was not all that different from what it had been at Drake.
Stirtz wants to show that he can be an off-the-ball option, something that he wasn’t able to do much at Iowa simply because the Hawkeyes needed him to shoulder much of the playmaking burden. But Stirtz might very well be capable of delivering positional flexibility as an NBA guard — with the ability to create offense as the primary ball-handler and also benefit from the playmaking of others as a spot-up shooter.
"I want to showcase that I can play off the ball," Stirtz said. "I had the ball in my hands a lot this season. But I think my IQ really helps me playing off the ball, and being able to shoot at a high level really helps me as well."
Defense is a question that came up to Stirtz during the pre-Draft process. Stirtz is not the most explosive athlete, which puts him at risk of being exposed more in the NBA than he was in college. But Stirtz believes that his defense is underrated. He has shown he can be a pesky defender, averaging a career-high 2.1 steals per game at Drake.
Stirtz does not need to be an elite defender in the NBA. As long as he proves his value offensively, Stirtz just needs to be serviceable defensively.
There is a path for that to come to fruition.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Hawk Central: What the Thunder are getting in 2026 NBA Draft pick Bennett Stirtz
Continue reading...
