Oklahoma City Thunder
We keep mentioning GM Sam Presti having a “trick up his sleeve” and that the Oklahoma City Thunder have a ton of potential moving forward and this is because of all of the future assets they have in place.
Not only are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Luguentz Dort and others a talented, young core in Oklahoma City, but the Thunder own the rights to a total of 35 draft picks through 2028, giving them plenty of ways to add talent to their roster over the next few years.
They will not only be able to add other young, versatile prospects through the draft, but the Thunder could easily be the next team to pull off a big move on the trade market because of everything they have to gamble with.
By year, the Thunder own: four draft picks in 2022, six in 2023, seven in 2024, eight in 2025, five in 2026, two in 2027 and three in 2028.
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Over the next three NBA Drafts alone, the Thunder currently own the rights to 17 total draft picks and if they were to take 5-6 of these picks, they could virtually trade for any player in the league.
While this statement should be taken with a grain of salt because players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant are not available whatsoever for any price, the Thunder really do have the ability to target a wide range of players, including All-Stars, with their draft capital.
Two to three years down the road, we will be looking at the Oklahoma City Thunder as a young team that has a chance to go on a deep playoff run.
Presti and the Thunder’s front-office have things clicking right now and with all of the cap space they will have available this upcoming offseason, it seems fitting that they will be looking to target at least one All-Star talent, possibly with the mindset of adding another one at the trade deadline or in 2023.
