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
4 of 5
Next

2016 NBA Draft

The 2016 NBA Draft was easily a wild one for the OKC Thunder. Ben Simmons went first overall, which was not the biggest story of the lottery. The Thunder who did not possess a first-round pick when the night began stole the show with their draft day deal.

Earlier in the day, Presti struck a deal with Rob Hennigan the Orlando Magic’s GM at the time. Oklahoma City took back a godfather return. Specifically, OKC shipped out Serge Ibaka for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and the 12th pick (Domantas Sabonis). Which likely contributed to why Hennigan was relieved of General Manager duties a few weeks later.

OKC Thunder picks

  • Domantas Sabonis, 12th overall via Orlando Magic
  • Daniel Hamilton, 26th second-round 56th overall

Notable picks made after Oklahoma City

The picks selected after Sabonis are not definitively better than Domantas. Siakam fills a role for the Raptors similar to the role Sabonis occupies for the Pacers. Murray is the new starting point guard of the San Antonio Spurs, and Brogdon was the rookie of the year during the 2016-17 season. However, with the addition of Eric Bledsoe and because of injury Brogdon regressed in his sophomore season.

2016 was indeed a weak draft class and OKC currently only has Hamilton representing the team from that year. Due to the team dealing Sabonis away it is hard to judge how good or bad the selection was.

Home/Thunder Draft