NBA Mock Draft: Thunder Select Modern Forward
Early in this NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have struggled as expected. The youngest team in the entire league, they're still learning how to play together and win games.
At the end of the season, it's likely that OKC will have one of the top picks in the 2022 NBA Draft. With that in mind, there's a good chance the Thunder will add another franchise cornerstone before entering the 2022-23 season.
The Athletic's Sam Vecenie recently released a 2022 NBA Mock Draft, which sets the stage for where some of the best prospects in this class could land.
While the draft order won't be known until after the 2021-22 NBA season, the Thunder are currently projected to take a modern forward that's been extremely impressive as a freshman.
Let’s see how Vecenie thinks the lottery could unfold in the 2022 NBA Draft.
| Team | Player | School |
|---|---|---|
1. HOU | Paolo Banchero | Duke |
2. NOP | Chet Holmgren | Gonzaga |
3. ORL | Jabari Smith | Auburn |
4. DET | Jalen Duren | Memphis |
5. SAS | Jaden Ivey | Purdue |
6. SAC | Jaden Hardy | G League Ignite |
7. OKC | Kendall Brown | Baylor |
8. IND | Patrick Baldwin | Wisconsin-Milwaukee |
9. TOR | TyTy Washington | Kentucky |
10. MIN | Dyson Daniels | G League Ignite |
11. MEM | Bennedict Mathurin | Arizona |
12. CLE | A.J. Griffin | Duke |
13. ATL | Keegan Murray | Iowa |
14. PHI | Nikola Jovic | International |
The 2022 NBA Draft will be yet another pivotal event for the rebuild of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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