Draft Pick Rankings: OKC Thunder Among Top Five in Draft Capital
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Over the past several years, teams around the league have been more willing to hit the reset button due to the massive haul of picks they’re able to get for their top players. The Oklahoma City Thunder were one of these teams, although having to trade their stars was less of their choice.
As a result of these teams stocking up on picks, eight teams alone control 85 first-round selections in the next seven years.
In the eyes of ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Oklahoma City has the second-best arsenal of picks in the entire NBA.
- Utah Jazz
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- San Antonio Spurs
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Houston Rockets
- New York Knicks
- Orlando Magic
- Indiana Pacers
What makes the Thunder’s haul of picks so impressive is that they still have all seven of their own. As such, they control their own destiny and can benefit from being near the bottom of the league during the rebuild.
Oklahoma City is tied with Utah as it relates to total first rounders over the next seven drafts, but the Jazz have more unprotected picks from other teams.
With that in mind, the Thunder do own Utah’s 2024 first-round selection, although it is protected.
Regardless, this goes to show how bright the future in Oklahoma City is. The roster already contains cornerstone pieces in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey. Now, they’ll have the chance to add much more talent moving forward.
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