Development Could Hurt Thunder’s 2023 Draft Chances
With last night’s fireworks show between Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, NBA fanbases, including Oklahoma City’s, are all buzzing.
Of course, after landing the second overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft, how could they not? The prospect of landing the lengthier, more perimeter-based version of Chet Holmgren, who looks like potentially the most prolific draft prospect of all time, is enticing.
But there’s a fairly clear reason OKC likely won’t be walking away with the top prize(s) without some insane luck: internal development.
I know, I know — a tale as old as time: draft good basketball players, win basketball games.
NBA general managers can only position themselves to land the cream of the crop for so long. Eventually, that cream goes on to win a blistering 55-games in a Western Conference Finals run.
And the Thunder are nearing their end point in the NBA Draft lottery.
They’ll likely be a mainstay for one more season, but the team is simply becoming to continue losing, even positioning themselves to do so near the end of the season.
Even without second overall selection Chet Holmgren, there’s a slew of Thunder players set to take a jump that, honestly, will just make OKC a better basketball team.
Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA TODAY Sports
Tre Mann. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Josh Giddey. Aleksej Pokusevski. Okay, fine, I tried to sneak Pokusevksi in, but the point still stands.
Mann looked like the best player on the court on Monday night. Giddey was heating up in year one, and was already making an impact. Connecting pieces in Robinson-Earl, Aaron Wiggins and Pokusevski will continually get better as the season progresses.
As general manager Sam Presti stated in his opening presser, the Thunder went from just searching from NBA-level guys, to cutting them. This year, they’ll roll out more first round selections than they’ve had in three seasons.
To end the season last year, Oklahoma City rolled out lineups consisting of Mann, Wiggins and a swath of recent signees. Not only will the 2021 draftees be far more competitive this season, there’s now talented 22’ rookies set to make an instant impact in Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng.
Make no mistake, the Thunder aren’t gunning for anything that includes basketball extending after the regular season. But there are too many teams with far less talent to truly contend for the draft lottery title this season (barring a Clipper meltdown.)
And, of course, it's not a bad thing OKC's players will be getting better. But in order for Presti to land the talent he wants, some serious levers are going to need to be pulled.
Oklahoma City will likely finish somewhere in the fifth, sixth, seventh range. And that will be just find for a draft class teeming with versatile talent.
The Thunder were already just 4th in the reverse standings last season, and arguably added as much talent as anyone.
But don’t expect to see the Thunder card flip last on lottery night without some incredible luck.
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