History of the No. 6 Pick in the NBA Draft Could Make Thunder Fans Nervous
Draft lottery night was one to forget for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Landing the sixth pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, OKC missed out on a piece of the highly coveted top five, but all hope is not lost.
Over the years a number of impact players have come into the league with the No. 6-overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Once upon a time, the Boston Celtics were able to earn the services of a talented scorer out of Indiana State named Larry Bird, who went on to have a little bit of success in the league.
But since the turn of the 21st century, it’s been a mixed bag drafting out of the 6-hole.
The Portland Trail Blazers hit the jackpot in 2012 when they took Damian Lillard, but he’s really the only player who has catapulted himself into superstardom since 2000.
A handful of key role players have been taken with the sixth pick as well.
The New York Knicks landed Danilo Gallinari in 2008, and he’s still providing a nice scoring spark to this day for the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Marcus Smart was selected sixth out of Oklahoma State by the Boston Celtics in 2014, a year after Nerlens Noel was taken in the same spot.
Buddy Hield was perhaps the last major contributor to get selected sixth overall, getting scooped up by the New Orleans Pelicans in 2016.
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But for every success, there is another side to the coin.
Mo Bamba has busted out for Orlando after considerable hype followed him into the 2018 draft.
The late 2000’s into the new decade weren’t kind on the No. 6 pick either. A three year stretch saw Johnny Flynn, Ekpe Udoh and Jan Vesely taken sixth overall, all of which would be major misses for the Thunder if they were to nab a guy with a similar career arc this year.
Overall, three Hall of Famers have been taken with the sixth pick in the NBA Draft, but the Thunder should just hope for a solid role player who can contribute to their core for years to come. Maybe the 2021 draft will add another one of those players to the lore of the six spot.
