1. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are still in the earlier stages of their rebuild. Sam Presti has stockpiled draft picks for years to come, as Oklahoma City is in an excellent position for the future.
Right now, the only locked-in building block the Thunder have is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who signed a max rookie extension this offseason. Now, it is time to find a core to add to him going forward.
The Thunder have some intriguing players in the backcourt, but they are lacking many high-upside players in the frontcourt. Darius Bazley and Isaiah Roby are the only young frontcourt players they have. Adding someone like Jalen Smith to the group would make sense.
The Oklahoma City Thunder could provide Smith with regular-season minutes with very little risk involved. The Thunder aren’t looking to win many games this season, so if Smith experiences some growing pains it wouldn’t hurt the team’s bottom line much. However, it could greatly improve their future outlook.
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Smith has great potential but needs the reps to continue developing. With minutes seemingly available in the frontcourt, the Thunder would be a great landing spot for him.
