Road to Relevance: Oklahoma City Thunder
Backed up by former teammates Al Horford and George Hill (3), the trio of Darius Bazley (7), Luguentz Dort (5) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) could form a core in Oklahoma City as the team continues its rebuild. (via Michael Reaves)
This time on “Road to Relevance,” I’ll be dissecting the NBA’s leader in future draft picks, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Once a Western Conference powerhouse, in recent years the Thunder have switched lanes and made numerous trades in pursuit of future draft assets. To make those deals, the team has parted ways with almost every player on their roster with trade value, leaving them with an incomplete roster composed largely of young players.
The 2020-21 season was a far cry from the days of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City, as the team finished near the bottom of the league in a number of statistics. Most notably among these was offensive rating, of which the team ranked dead last in the NBA, the same ranking they achieved with their net rating of -10.5. Their record of 22-50 placed them 14th in the Western Conference but also earned them the sixth overall pick in this year’s NBA draft.
While that pick is undoubtedly the Thunder’s most valuable this season, they will receive five other chances to hit it big on draft night, as they will make three selections in the first round and three more in the second. These picks come from several different places: the 16th overall pick was originally owned by the Boston Celtics and was acquired in the trade for Kemba Walker last month, while the 18th pick is in the Miami Heat’s name, landing in Oklahoma City after changing hands numerous times.
This staggering amount of draft picks will be the norm for the Thunder for years to come, as they own the rights, conditionally or unconditionally, to a whopping 38 draft selections through the 2027 NBA Draft, according to Jacob Camenker of sportingnews.com. It has been a long, winding path for the Thunder to reach this level of draft wealth, with multiple teams giving up abundances of their picks in exchange for star players in Oklahoma City, most notably the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets in deals for Paul George and Westbrook, respectively.
All of the picks stashed away in the Thunder’s vault can be of value to the team in one of two ways: they can be used outright to select a prospect in the draft, or they can be used in future trades to potentially acquire established players who can move the needle for OKC on the court. The team will almost undoubtedly explore both of these avenues in the years to come, and they will likely be at the forefront of the trade market on an annual basis.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made a huge impression in the 2020-21 season, emerging as the Thunder’s best player in just his third season in the league. (Alonzo Adams/USA TODAY Sports)
Another benefit of owning draft picks from around the league is that the Thunder will not need to tank to ensure a high selection in the draft. The franchise’s front office will be rooting against many other teams to increase the value of the draft picks that that team has sent to Oklahoma City. Owning the draft picks of teams with uncertain futures like the aforementioned Clippers and Rockets could prove even more beneficial than initially thought if either team proves unable to escape the lottery in the coming years.
Even with their goldmine of assets, the Thunder also boasts a small collection of intriguing talent. At the top of the list is unquestionably Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a 22-year-old guard who has shown superstar potential since coming to Oklahoma City from the Clippers in the Paul George trade. He averaged 23.7 points and six assists per game this season, and he shot nearly 42 percent from the three-point line on five attempts per game. Luguentz Dort and Darius Bazley both proved themselves in their sophomore years, providing stout defense and surprising offense for the team at the ages of 21 and 20, respectively. Ty Jerome, Kenrich Williams and Moses Brown all made an impact in their time on the court, giving the Thunder a number of viable options for currently rostered players to keep around long-term or value trade chips as seen with Brown.
While it’s near impossible to predict the liveliness of the trade market on a season-to-season basis, the Thunder’s hoard of picks should put them in contention to acquire just about any player whose team listens to offers for them. The makeup of the team will likely remain inconsistent for the next handful of years, as roster limits will force them into multiple personnel decisions with each offseason, but should general manager Sam Presti capitalize on what he and his team have built, the Thunder could, in the next decade, see themselves in line for their first championship since the Seattle SuperSonics’ championship win in 1979.
