Flashback to the summer of 2019- the Oklahoma City Thunder had just came off of a brutal first-round exit in the playoffs to an iconic buzzer-beater three from Damian Lillard. Mere weeks later Paul George and then Russell Westbrook would both request trades, officially closing the Russell Westbrook era in Oklahoma City.
Yet the attitude of the organization did not seem hopeless following the leave of their two best players. This was, in fact, due to the heaps of potential the Thunder gained following these trades.
Management Making Deals
Just from those two trades, the Thunder gained SEVEN first-round picks, not including four pick swaps and their own picks. They also gained a wiry kid from Kentucky coming off of a surprisingly good rookie season. He would later blossom into a MVP level player and elite scorer for the Oklahoma City Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The next 12 months was full rebuild mode for the ball club, they shipped off player like Jerami Grant, Dennis Schroder and a few others to eventually accumulate 17 first round draft picks through 2026.
Sam Presti, the general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder, can be credited for a lot of these successful moves. Now, five years after the monumental shift in the organization’s ideals- what has OKC done with all this potential?
Thunder Recent Draft Picks
2021
After a couple misses, Oklahoma City had a underrated draft in 2021, selecting players like Aaron Wiggins, Tre Mann and Josh Giddey. Wiggins is a pivotal role player of OKC’s current bench and Josh Giddey would eventually be traded for fellow Caucasian Alex Caruso.
2022
In this draft the Thunder struck gold, drafting key players in their current lineup such as Jaylin Williams, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. All three of these players have been outstanding the past two and a half seasons; Jaylin is OKC’s off-the-bench big man and Jalen and Chet are having all-star worthy seasons in the starting lineup.
2023
A hidden gem, 21 year-old Cason Wallace has been a defensive maniac in the 2024/25 season and has also provided clutch points when needed. He currently averages the sixth most steals in the NBA(teammates SGA and Jalen Williams are both top-5).
2024
In the most recent draft the Oklahoma City Thunder took Dillon Jones and Nikola Topic, the Serbian sensation. Jones has had little minutes but their coveted pick, Topic tore his ACL prior to the season. He will be back next year but his return is highly anticipated.
Other Additions
Besides their applaud-worthy drafting decisions, OKC has also made a couple nice additions in the offseason the past few years. In the most recent offseason the team acquired already mentioned Alex Caruso and center Isaiah Hartenstein. Hartenstein has been dominant in the paint and has greatly improved the Thunder’s screen game; he is averaging well over a double-double.
Back when the Thunder had Russ and PG13, a rookie out of Arizona State had just arrived and proven his excellence on the defensive end. Lu Dort, also known as the “Dorture Chamber,” in his sixth year on the Thunder is now one of the oldest players on the team but is still just as smothering. He has helped OKC be a top defensive team every year he’s played and now the Oklahoma City Thunder are staticstically the best defensive team in the league.
Isaiah Joe, the team’s biggest three-point threat has also had key moments in the 2024/25 season. He was picked up by the Thunder in the 2022 offseason and has held a consistent 40% three-point percentage and averaging three a game in the three seasons he has played there.
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