Report: OKC Rebuffed in Attempt to Land No. 1 Pick
If the Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t able to trade up to the top pick ahead of Thursday night’s NBA Draft, it won’t be due to a lack of trying.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman reported on Twitter that Sam Presti “made a legitimate offer for (the top pick) that the Pistons turned down.”
The report came just after ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Detroit still isn’t “fully there yet” on taking Cade Cunningham with the top pick.
Wojnarowski said that the discussions around the top pick were centered on Cunningham, as well as former USC center Evan Mobley and G League Ignite product Jalen Green.
Trading all the way to the top of the draft is rare, but it was even more unlikely any team was going to be able to entice the Pistons to trade back given the talent pool, especially at the top, of the 2021 draft class.
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But if any team were going to be able to make the move, it would be Presti and the Thunder, who own 36 picks over the next six years.
There are still plenty of options for OKC to trade up, however, even if they stand pat and pick at No. 6. They might try to package the 16th and 18th picks, along with a pick early the second round (Presti owns two at picks 34 and 36) to reach back into the back end of the top 10 and add another high-end lottery prospect to the roster in Oklahoma City.
Regardless, there’s still plenty of wheeling and dealing to be done before the NBA Draft tips off on Thursday night.
