Thunder Draft: Safe or Conservative the Best Path?
The Oklahoma City Thunder have four picks in the 2022 NBA Draft, including two in the lottery. With each of these picks, franchise-altering decisions will have to be made.
It’s extremely difficult to evaluate talent at the NBA level, which is why we see players all throughout the lottery end up being much better or much worse than their position in many cases.
For a rebuilding team like the Thunder, it should be all about upside in this upcoming draft. While there’s always picks that feel more safe, nothing is guaranteed at this level. As such, prospects should be evaluated on their ultimate ceiling.
Simply put, what’s the best case scenario for each prospect?
Oklahoma City needs another star, meaning this is especially important in the lottery. Alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, the Thunder need another piece of the core.
This also applies with the picks they have outside of the lottery. Rather than taking a guy with a high floor, the Thunder should be looking at high ceiling guys that might be risky. They’ve got so many picks over the next five years that taking swings is fine to do.
In the modern NBA, there's so many players that are value picks outside of the lottery that ultimately become key pieces of championship rosters.
In the 2022 NBA Draft, Thunder GM Sam Presti should be all about upside. The players that join the roster next season should all have tremendous potential, even if they’re raw on day one.
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