OKC Thunder: Draft History – 2009
In the second of OKC Thunder draft history series, we look at the 2009 draft.
Sam Presti took over the OKC Thunder in 2007. In his first draft he selected Kevin Durant with the second pick. My guess is Portland still have nightmares because they selected Greg Oden with the number one pick. In his second draft Presti selected Russell Westbrook. These two were the building blocks for the future. They needed a third player in a league where the big three was becoming a “thing”.
This draft had players of the caliber of Blake Griffin, who went number one, Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague and DeMar Derozan who have all become All Stars. As the Thunder already had Westbrook, point guards Holiday, Teague and Curry would not have a been a good option for this rebuilding team. Griffin was already off the board when the Thunder picked so they had a choice. DeMar DeRozan was a solid college player who averaged 13.5 points per game in his one year or James Harden, who averaged 19.0 points in his two years at college.
James Harden
History will tell us the OKC Thunder went with Harden which was certainly the right choice at the time. With 20/20 hindsight, DeRozan may have been the better option but how would you know that on draft night. Harden was the third pick in the draft and leads the draft class in a number of categories. He has played the most games (615), played the most minutes (20,688) and has scored the most points (13,618).. Harden has the highest win share percentage of any player in the 2009 draft with 91.3 percent. This is a higher number than the two time MVP Curry.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Harden is second in assists (3,526), third in free throw percentage (85.4 percent). Unfortunately for the OKC Thunder, Harden saw greener grass on the other side of the Conference and joined the Houston Rockets for a max deal. The problem for Harden with that is he has never achieved the same success with the Rockets as he did when he was a part of the OKC Thunder organization.
Rodrigue Beaubois
The OKC Thunder had also had pick 25 in the 2009 draft and with it they selected Rodrigue Beaubois from Guadeloupe. Beaubois would not play for the OKC Thunder as they traded him on draft night with a second round pick for Byron Mullens. Anyone who follows the Thunder closely will know Mullens was a complete flop. In his two seasons he only played 26 games, averaging 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.
Beaubois on the other hand played four yours with the Dallas Mavericks. In that time he played 182 games, averaging 7.1 points per game.
Stay tuned for more draft history, news and views from Thunderous Intentions.