OKC Thunder lands James Bouknight in latest 2021 NBA Mock Draft

The OKC Thunder are a team building for the future, which has seemingly made this year’s NBA Draft unequivocally relevant right from day one of this 2020-21 campaign.

Despite the team’s current five-year postseason streak, coupled with their 83 percent success rate of making the postseason since their inception back in 2008-09, this year has mainly been about development, not contention.

Now, with 36 games under their belt, Oklahoma City finds itself residing in the 12th seed in the Western Conference standings with a record of 15-21. If the season were to end today, Sam Presti and co. would very likely find themselves in — albeit barley — the top-10 on the 2021 draft board.

If this were to remain, their chances of nabbing Oklahoma State standout Cade Cunningham would essentially be at zero, but they’d still have a chance to land another top-notch guard prospect to pair with franchise cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the backcourt, as this draft is seemingly stacked the position.

In their latest mock draft, Bleacher Report finds a quality prospect in UCONN two-guard James Bouknight to bring on as a backcourt sidekick to SGA.

B/R has James Bouknight heading to OKC Thunder in latest mock draft

Raving about his stellar offensive production, craftiness, and size, writer Jonathan Wasserman believes the OKC Thunder could find their shooting guard of the future in Bouknight should they remain in possession of the ninth selection.

"The Oklahoma City Thunder could set their backcourt of the future by drafting James Bouknight to join Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.No projected lottery pick is scoring more than Connecticut’s 6’5″ sophomore. Averaging 20.2 points, he’s creating off tough ball-handling maneuvers and change of pace, and he’s making shots with dribble jumpers and athletic finishes.Bouknight also just hit five threes against Georgetown on Saturday, an encouraging sign for those questioning his 33.9 percent mark on the season."

With 36 games remaining on the schedule, a lot can change between now and the November 18th NBA Draft.

While some may still have their sights set on Cunningham and that number one pick, this class is expected to be quite deep and, in turn, there will be many talented ballers the Thunder will likely be able to snag, regardless of where their ultimate draft position winds up.