Thunder Draft: Best Available is Route to Take

When evaluating the Oklahoma City Thunder roster, it’s no surprise the majority of the promising talent is guard heavy. Between guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort and Tre Mann, it appears Oklahoma City has a solid backcourt rotation for the future.

With that in mind, the Thunder shouldn’t avoid taking a guard in the 2022 NBA Draft. While the top three prospects taken will likely be forwards, the next several picks could be guards.

If Oklahoma City lands a pick outside of the top three, selecting another backcourt player could be in play. Whether it’s Jaden Ivey or Shaedon Sharpe, the Thunder shouldn’t shy away outside of the top three.

There’s clear overlap in what those two prospects or any other guard in this class bring to the table, but rosters turn over so quickly in the NBA. When looking around the league, very few teams even have five players that were on the roster before the pandemic.

A wing or big would better fit the Thunder roster today, but it’s all about the future. There’s no guarantee the guards currently on the roster end up being key pieces of the rebuild. As such, OKC is still at the point where it’s about drafting the best available player.

In the modern NBA, rebuilding teams have to take the best possible talent then find ways to build the roster around those star-level prospects.

It’ll be interesting to see where the Thunder’s two lottery picks fall, but regardless position isn’t important at this phase. Down the road when Oklahoma City has its core set and is a piece or two away from contention, then drafting for positional fit will makes more sense.

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