Thunder Draft: A Decade Without A Top-Ten Pick
There's certainly an advantage to being a consistently good team. The Oklahoma City Thunder spent the majority of the last 13 years being a playoff team that always finished the season with a good record. This is the goal of every NBA franchise across the country.
The one downside to this is the talent you can acquire in the draft. During their streak of being competitive, the Thunder never once selected in the top ten. In fact, the last time OKC had a pick inside the top ten was in the 2009 NBA Draft when they took James Harden almost 12 years ago.
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Not only did Thunder GM Sam Presti make a great selection with Harden at No. 3 overall, but he had several picks he hit on before that. In the 2008 NBA Draft, he drafted Russell Westbrook No. 4 overall as well as Kevin Durant No. 2 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft.
As we all know, this future MVP trio of players selected in consecutive years would become one of the best young core of players in the history of the NBA, but weren't together long enough to bring a championship to Oklahoma City. Known for being one of the biggest "what if" trios ever, they're all now on different teams around the league.
With this in mind, the last three picks Presti had in the top ten were absolute hits. They set the foundation for a eleven straight drafts without another chance to select in that range again due to how good the team was.
That will all change this season, as the Oklahoma City Thunder are guaranteed at least one top-ten pick. In fact, they could even end up with two top-five picks if the lottery goes the way they hope.
With one of the most loaded classes we've seen in the past couple years when it comes to top-level talent, Sam Presti will once again have a chance to shine with his selection.
