Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

Hit or miss, OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti has lost his NBA draft selection prowess

By Alex Mcewen

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 25: Cameron Payne meets with Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected 14th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the First Round of the 2015 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 25, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 25: Cameron Payne meets with Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected 14th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the First Round of the 2015 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 25, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next

2014 NBA Draft

It is hard to fathom the 2014 draft was four years ago. It seems it was yesterday Andrew Wiggins went number one overall to the Cavaliers only to be traded to the Timberwolves for Kevin Love less than a month later.

OKC Thunder selections

*Christon was acquired in a draft-day deal via Miami

The 2014 draft is where the Thunder’s draft dominance began to decline. Sam Presti swung and missed on McGary. McGary broke his back when he was in college attending the University of Michigan. After the injury he developed a habit of using marijuana, resulting in suspension for his entire sophomore season. Due to his suspension, McGary declared for the draft, rather than sit out a whole year.

Additionally, Oklahoma City selected Josh Huestis with the 29th pick. The story on Huestis is a bit murkier. Heading into the draft OKC had two first-rounders and one open roster spot. Rather than packaging the two picks to move up, Presti opted to select Huestis who did not sign his guaranteed contract making him the first ever domestic draft and stash player.

This practice is common among international players, but before Huestis it had never been done with a US-born prospect. Bottom line, the Thunder had a poor draft in 2014 and there is no other way to spin it.

Notable picks after OKC

The above players all got selected after OKC made their picks, the Thunder simply wasted two first-rounders. Some draft classes are weak, yet there were ample prospects OKC could have drafted, but simply overlooked.

Home/Thunder Draft