The Thunder Just Notched a Huge NBA Draft Lottery Win Thanks to Clippers' Play-In Exit

As if the Thunder needed another win. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Thunder are so good that it is almost boring. The defending squad sits comfortably atop the West—just two wins ahead of the Spurs but 10 wins ahead of the third-place Nuggets—and star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks poised to repeat as MVP again this season. The team itself is young, which bodes well for future seasons, and each player is friendly with his teammates and poised before the media and fans. And from a front office perspective, general manager Sam Presti is holding on to a treasure trove of draft capital as a result of previous trades.

And things got even sweeter on Wednesday night, when the Clippers lost to the Warriors in the NBA's 2025-26 play-in tournament.

Because of L.A.’s loss, the team's 2026 first-round pick was pushed into the NBA draft lottery. And who does that pick belong to? None other than the Oklahoma City Thunder.

You just can’t make this stuff up.

With Los Angeles officially out of postseason contention, OKC will enter lottery night with the Clippers’ pick slotting in at either No. 11 or No. 12 overall, depending on how the rest of the play-in tournament shakes out. Should the Warriors advance, the Clippers’ pick will move to No. 11 and carry with it a “9.4% chance to jump into the four and a 2% shot at landing the No. 1 overall pick,” as calculated by Oklahoma City's News 9.

If the pick drops to No. 12, however, chances of a move to the top four drop to 7.1%, with a 1.5% chance for the No. 1 selection overall. But still, that's not a zero percent chance. And as we saw with the Mavericks last year, that's more than enough.

Why do the Thunder have the Clippers' pick?

By trading Paul George to the Clippers in 2019, the Thunder added to their treasure trove of assets with a slew of draft picks and future MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

OKC received L.A.'s 2026 first-rounder as part of the massive 2019 trade that sent forward Paul George, with the Thunder at the time, to the Clippers. (George is currently with the 76ers, who defeated the Magic in the play-in on Wednesday to earn the No. 7 seed in the East).

As part of the 2019 deal, Oklahoma City received SGA, Danilo Gallinari, five first-rounders, two first-round pick swaps and the Clippers' unprotected 2026 first-round pick. Seven years later, it seems flat-out obvious that the Thunder won this swap in the end, but Wednesday's outcome cements that point tenfold.

If the team's pick does get bumped into the top four, the Thunder could have the chance to use their selection to take top talent like Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Kansas’s Darryn Peterson, BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa or North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, assuming they all declare for the draft as expected. And, considering OKC's already-rich roster depth, this would, in turn, put them in a position to make even more deals in the future.

Moreover, as highlighted by CBS’s Sam Quinn, the Thunder also have a 2027 first-round pick swap from the Clippers, which was received as part of the 2023 deal that sent then-76ers guard James Harden to Los Angeles. Meaning if the Clippers struggle again next season, OKC can capitalize once more.

Sam Presti, take a bow.

The NBA draft lottery will take place on Sunday, May 10.

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