Not having a Top-5 pick this year could slow the Thunder’s rebuild down
As stated earlier, the Thunder are currently in the midst of a rebuild and while they are not going to be contending for a championship next year if they had a Top-5 pick in this year’s draft, they would be able to speed things up in terms of their rebuild.
What I mean by this is that five talented, young players like at the top of this year’s draft do not come around every year. This year’s draft is a unique situation where each of these prospects brings something different to the table in terms of skill-set, yet they all have All-Star potential.
Every draft, there are going to be talented players being compared to All-Star level players, but the Thunder are much better off going after one of these guys that have already been evaluated in full rather than wait and hope that more high-level talents come around in the future.
Not to mention, the Thunder could improve on a year-to-year basis as their young talents get more experience, which is why this is the best opportunity for them to seize a top draftee.
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Ending up with a Top-5 pick this year would have been a dream come true for the Thunder, but now, having the 6th pick, they do have some leverage in draft talks.
In addition to the 6th pick, they have 16th and 18th picks as well, so they could easily put together a trade package solely of draft picks this year in order to get one of the top guys in this year’s draft, thus speeding things up in their rebuilding process.
