Inside The Thunder

2026 NBA Mock Draft: OKC Thunder Add Three Players in First Round

The 2025-26 NBA season is still months away, but that hasn't stopped draft experts from making early predictions about the upcoming draft class.
Randall Sweet|
Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz (14) brings the ball up court during practice June 19, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz (14) brings the ball up court during practice June 19, 2025 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are fresh off a championship run, and even after winning the team's first title, OKC continued to build through the draft.

Just a few days after celebrating an NBA Finals win with a championship parade through downtown Oklahoma City, Sam Presti and company added two more promising pieces in the NBA Draft. OKC even reached the Summer League semifinals despite first-round pick Thomas Sorber not participating in the action.

Now, the Thunder will aim for another title in 2025-26, but beyond next season, Oklahoma City has a even more draft capital in the 2026 class. OKC is set to have at least three first-round selections in the next draft, if the team doesn't elect to trade one of its picks.

A recent mock draft from Bryan Kalbrosky saw the Thunder utilize all three selections, taking an intriuing trio of prospects.

First, Kalbrosky paired veteran Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz with Oklahoma City at No. 18 overall.

In his first year at the Division I level, Stirtz averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 assists, 4,3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 49.8% from the field and 39.5% from beyond the arc for Drake.

After his coach left the Bulldogs for Iowa, Stirtz made the jump to the Big 10, where he will compete for the Hawkeyes in 2024-25. Before he was at Drake, the 6-foot-4 guard played for coach Ben McCollum at Northwest Missouri State, a Division II school.

When McCollum was hired at Drake, Stirtz made the transition to DI basketball.

At No. 20 in Kalbrosky's mock draft, the Thunder added incoming Washington freshman Hannes Steinbach. A 6-foot-9 forward from Germany, Steinbach will be 20-years-old on the date of the 2026 draft.

This summer, Steinbach has competed on the German national team on the FIBA U19 circuit.

With good size and defensive IQ, the Huskies' freshman seems like a good fit with Mark Daigneault's system.

Finally, at No. 28 overall, Kalbrosky paired Spanish wing Sergio De Larrea with the Thunder. The 6-foot-5 19-year-old averaged 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 2024-25.

Some analysts thought De Larrea may declare for the 2025 NBA Draft, but the intriuing wing prospect elected to return to Valencia Basket. As a result, De Larrea may impact the upcoming class.

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

Published
Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall Sweet is a 2022 Oklahoma University graduate who has formerly written for the Norman Transcript and OU Daily. Randall also serves as the Communications Coordinator at Visit OKC.

Home/Draft Coverage