Thunder Could Trade Up From No. 12 Pick In 2022 NBA Draft

Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA Trade Rumors
NBA Analysis Network

One of the biggest winners of the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery was the Oklahoma City Thunder. After finishing the 2021-22 season with the fourth-worst record in the league, they made a jump up the board, as they will be selecting second overall.

Armed with the No. 12 overall pick as well, via the LA Clippers, the Thunder are in a great spot to add two more high-upside players to their roster to continue forward with their rebuild. But, they could look to make a move up the draft board if the opportunity presents itself.

Over at Sports Illustrated, Jeremy Woo recently put together a mock draft. He has the Thunder selecting Paolo Banchero out of Duke with the second overall pick. That isn’t overly surprising, as Banchero is one of the consensus top-three developing along with Jabari Smith Jr. out of Auburn and Chet Holmgren out of Gonzaga.

There’s been some chatter that Oklahoma City could be looking at Jaden Ivey out of Purdue with the second overall pick, but Woo has them going with Banchero. In his blurb for the 10th pick, however, is when things get interesting.

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A.J. Griffin, Banchero’s teammate at Duke, is the mock pick. However, Woo shares that if the Oklahoma City Thunder have their way, this pick will be flipped as part of a package to move into the top-10.

“There’s some thought around the league that the Thunder may try and combine this selection with some of their other draft picks in order to try and move up to get a second top 10 selection.”

We are used to seeing Oklahoma City make moves to acquire draft picks, but this would be an instance that they would be parting with selections instead. It is certainly interesting because the teams rumored to be looking to move out of the top-10 are looking for established players to make a playoff push.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder does not have many players that would fit that bill unless they shop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who would be sought after by virtually every team in the NBA. Instead, they can build a package centered around their war chest of draft picks. Even if it cost two or three to move up, it wouldn’t make a dent in the stockpile that Oklahoma City has put together in recent years.

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