ESPN Rank Thunder 24th in Future Standings, Carry Unprecedented Potential Moving Forward

From the national lens, the Oklahoma City Thunder are an enigma.

In an article released by ESPN Insiders Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks, Andre Snellings, and Tim Bontemps Wednesday, the panel ranked all 30 franchises' futures over the next three seasons: 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24.

The evaluation stage for their “Future Power Rankings” tackled five different categories: players, management, money, market, and draft outlook – all weighted at varying degrees.

To open the list, the Memphis Grizzlies led the league as top 10 scores in players, management, money, and draft outlook handed themselves an overall 71.1 grade. With this tandem leading the pack, the Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, and Boston Celtics round out the top five as their current success – coupled with upper-echelon management made them high choices in the eyes of the panel.

The Los Angeles Clippers claimed the sixth ranking on the board as with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Norman Powell tacked on for the foreseeable future – they are expected to maintain contending status throughout the next three seasons. This evaluation is interesting as though the Clippers have in-house stars, excellent management, and a prime market – they rank dead last in draft outlook. You can credit the Paul George trade this assessment as starting this season, Los Angeles will owe Oklahoma City three unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps until the 2025-26 season.

ESPN’s list values current rosters far more than any other category, accounting for 53.8% of franchises' future evaluations. This upper hand is evident with middle-of-the-pack teams clinging to spots in the mid-to-late teens, and current lottery lovers hiding at the bottom of the board – that includes the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Oklahoma City finds itself 24th in future outlook, according to the panel. In the group evaluation, the Thunder rank dead last in player talent, receiving a score of 11 out of 100 in the category. Though the team has a building block in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the abundance of developing players and rookie pieces make their rotation unstable moving forward. Additionally, Bricktown is not considered a booming spot, ranking 28th in the league in market.

On the bright side, the genius of Sam Presti was acknowledged. As stated by the panel, Oklahoma City would’ve been a top 10 team if rankings solely centered on draft equity and the front office. But ultimately, the present-day fetched more value. With 19 first-round picks over the next seven years, the Thunder ranked first league-wide in draft outlook, while Presti’s diligence pegged them in a tie for sixth place in management. To bode with the front office, monetarily, the Thunder sit pretty with $32 million currently in their pocket.

Given the weighted values assigned to each category, Oklahoma City falling to 24th is no slight whatsoever as if all sides were weighted equally, they’d actually rank fourth. Though, living in Los Angeles shouldn’t have the same impact as having Giannis Antetokounmpo on your team.

The Oklahoma City Thunder hold one of the biggest ceilings in the league as displayed in their management, monetary status, and draft capital. On that same note, they need several successful offseasons to get there. It’ll be up to Presti to yield those positives into some productive players moving into the future.

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.