NBA Mock Draft: Thunder Select Franchise-Changing Guard

With their season coming to an end, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a pivotal offseason ahead. The first order of business will be the 2021 NBA Draft, where they will look to add franchise-changing talent. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman is one of the best in the industry at evaluating talent and recently released his latest mock draft.

While we won't know exactly where the Thunder are selecting in the first round for another month, it's still interesting to see where these prospects sit in each tier of the draft. The top-five prospects in the class seem to be set, but outside of that, there are a ton of different scenarios that could play out.

With the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery taking place on June 22, OKC could end up with one, two or zero top-five picks depending on what happens in the draft lottery. Let's take a look at the lottery (picks 1-13) of Wasserman's recent mock draft and who is projected to be taken near the Thunder's potential picks.

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What picks could the Thunder land?

Thunder Season Awards: Most Improved Player

Team	Player	School
HOU	Cade Cunningham	Oklahoma State
DET	Jalen Green	G League Ignite
ORL	Evan Mobley	USC
OKC	Jalen Suggs	Gonzaga
CLE	Jonathan Kuminga	G League Ignite
GSW	Keon Johnson	Tennessee
TOR	Scottie Barnes	Florida State
ORL	Jalen Johnson	Duke
NOP	Davion Mitchell	Baylor
SAC	Franz Wagner	Michigan
CHA	Moses Moody	Arkansas
SAS	Josh Giddey	International
IND	James Bouknight	Connecticut

In a tie with the Cleveland Cavalier's for the fourth-best lottery odds, the Thunder have a really good chance at landing a top-five pick as they look to expedite their rebuild. The 2021 class is one of the best in the past few years, meaning the Thunder could find Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a running mate for the future.