Three OKC Thunder Players Selected in Mock NBA Expansion Draft

NBA expansion has been looming as a possiblity for multiple seasons.

There has been no certain indication that the league will elect to move in this direction, but with a surplus of quality starters, media members have pondered how long it will be before the NBA decides to add a few more teams.

With 30 current members in the league, adding two new teams would draw the NBA even with the NFL and NHL, which have 32 squads. Additionally, there are a handful of cities who seem to be enticing destinations for potential NBA expansion.

Fans of the league have long asked for a team to return to Seattle, a city that already has experience supporting a professional basketball team, and Las Vegas, a location with a massive media presence as well as the funds and facilities to support another sports team.

If NBA expansion does take place in the future, the new teams will have a draft of existing NBA players to help build rosters for their debut seasons. To determine which players are available, teams would have the opportunity to "protect" certain players from being available in the expansion draft.

Every player who is not protected would be eligible to be selected by one of the new teams.

Recently, media members from The Ringer held a mock expansion draft to illustrate what expansion teams could potential look like in the NBA's modern landscape. To determine who was in the draft pool, the group used a list of protected players that was written for the website earlier in the week.

With the third overall pick in the mock expansion draft, Justin Verrier and J. Kyle Mann selected Nikola Topic, pulling the first player from the Thunder's non-protected pool.

"He's basically been on ice because he was hurt before the draft," Verrier said. "We basically get a free lottery pick. ... I know going into last year's draft there was talk about him potentially being like, a top 3-5 talent. he slid to (pick) 12 because of the fact that he was hurt."

Listed at 6-foot-6 and more than 200 pounds, Topic's combination of size, feel for the game and touch around the rim made scouts enamoured with the Serbian guard's potential at the next level.

Topic is still only 19 years old, and could serve as a key piece of the Thunder's bench down the line.

The next OKC player off the board was Ajay Mitchell, who Verrier and Mann selected with the No. 5 overall pick. Mitchell, who was also part of Oklahoma City's 2024 draft class, had a strong start to his rookie season before a toe injury sidelined the talented guard.

Prior to his injury, though, Mitchell averaged 6.4 points, two rebounds and 1.7 assists in more than 16 minutes per game while shooting 50.6% from the field and 43.1% from beyond the arc.

Mitchell had multiple standout performances coming off the bench early in the season, including a career-high 17 points in a win against Memphis.

With the No. 11 pick in the mock expansion draft, Verrier and Mann selected Isaiah Joe.

"Obviously, awesome scorer," Verrier said. "Can fill it up for any team. Instant offense off the bench or maybe in the starting lineup. ... Contract is also very, very good."

Joe is averaging a career-high 9.6 points while shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc on more than six attempts per contest. A fifth-year veteran in his third season with the Thunder, Joe has been a key piece of the team's bench since his introduction into the lineup in 2022.

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