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
- Pascal Siakam, 27th overall
- Dejounte Murray, 29th overall
- Malcolm Brogdon, 6th second-round 36th overall
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.