The Thunder's History of Alleged Draft Promises

With the 2023 NBA Draft just weeks away, rumors have started to circulate in league circles. Recently, Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report said that French wing and teammate of future No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama received a draft promise from a team in the top 14.

With the Thunder's alleged history of draft promises, Sam Presti's fondness for international prospects and Coulibaly's skillset, many have pointed to OKC as the team that may have given the talented wing a promise in this year's draft.

Coulibaly is listed at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds at only 18-years-old, playing with Wembanyama on Metropolitans 92, one of the best teams in France's top basketball league. Coulibaly, who helped lead his French squad to LNB Finals, is coveted for his defensive ability and tremendous upside

If Oklahoma City does select Coulibaly, it would mark the fourth time in the last nine years that the Thunder have picked a player that they allegedly made a promise to. In the 2014 NBA Draft, OKC took Mitch McGary with the 21st overall pick after reportedly telling the Michigan product that he would be the Thunder's choice if available.

As a sophomore at Michigan, McGary averaged 9.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game, only playing in eight contests. In two seasons with Oklahoma City, the former 4-star recruit tallied 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, making 52 appearances with only two starts.

In the next draft, the Thunder were rumored to have made a promise to Cameron Payne, who Presti and company selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2015 draft.

Payne averaged a whopping 20.2 points, six assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game as a sophomore at Murray State. The 2014-15 Ohio Valley Conference player of the year played 77 games for OKC before being traded to Chicago in return for Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson.

In 2020, Oklahoma City allegedly made a promise to Serbian forward Aleksej Pokusevski. While he was a very raw prospect coming into the league, Poku is still only 21-years-old and showed flashes in 2022-23 before an injury derailed his season.

If the Serbian big-man is able to help the Thunder this season, he could be the team's first successful alleged draft promise.

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