The Top-5 in this year’s draft are all franchise-altering players

When evaluating the 2021 NBA Draft class, it is hard to take your eyes off of the names at the top of the draft board. Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State), Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga), Evan Mobley (USC), Jalen Green (G-League) and Jonathan Kuminga (G-League) are this year’s Top-5 prospects, in no particular order, and each one of them possesses All-Star potential. 

Each of these prospects are “franchise-altering” talents, which is why they are definitely worth trading up for. This is the kind of player the Thunder need to be hunting for, especially to pair with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

Maybe they do not need another guard since they just added Kemba Walker and they may not need a versatile forward since they have Darius Bazley, but the Thunder have a need for a big guy and a need for athletic talents. 

Evan Mobley and Jalen Green should be at the top of the Thunder’s draft board not only because of the fit position wise, but because both of these guys could thrive in a system next to SGA. The Thunder recently traded away Moses Brown to the Celtics, which leaves them with no center and potentially wanting to fill that position with a guy like Evan Mobley. 

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Jalen Green is classified as a shooting guard, but he really can play anywhere on the floor because of his explosiveness and ability to play on or off-the-ball. On a young team with Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Green could really thrive as a top-tier talent and easily become an All-Star in Oklahoma City. 

No matter who the Thunder are targeting in the Top-5, all of these guys are worth trading up for in the draft and could immediately escalate the Thunder’s rebuild process. Trading up from the 6th overall pick ensures that Oklahoma City could end up with one of these five guys, which will set them up for a ton of success during the 2021-22 season and moving forward.