Potential OKC Thunder prospect, James Bouknight, declares for draft

Though many came into the season with the expectation of seeing their beloved OKC Thunder squad nabbing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and, with this, selecting Oklahoma State standout point guard, Cade Cunningham, through 46 games played we find the franchise farther out from the top selection than one would have hoped.

Now, perhaps these could be considered champaign problems, as their higher draft projection is a direct result of their competitive play throughout this year’s campaign, but as things currently stand, OKC finds themselves with a 19-27 record, placing them 13th in the Western Conference standings which, in turn, lessens their odds of landing the highly coveted first-overall pick.

Obviously, things can change over these next 26 outings, but if the season were to end today the team would find itself with a 26.2 percent chance of finding themselves landing within the top-four in the lottery.

Perhaps not what fans were hoping for but, most likely the Thunder will still find their way into the lottery with their own draft rights and, by all accounts, there looks to be plenty of players worthy of their attention and, possibly, their selection as well.

In fact, one specific prospect who was linked to the team in a recent Bleacher Report mock draft, James Bouknight, just announced that he will officially be declaring for the illustrious July event.

Potential OKC Thunder prospect, James Bouknight, declares for NBA Draft

Ranked 18th overall in ESPN’s Top 100 draft prospects list, Bouknight possesses a high-level potential, with some going as far as to say he’s the ideal NBA shooting guard. The 6-5 UCONN standout posted impressive averages of 18.7 points and 5.7 rebounds during his sophomore season.

Described as the “one of the best scorers in the country” by ESPN draft analyst, Jonathan Givony, the 20-year-old recently saw himself being selected ninth overall by the OKC Thunder in the previously mentioned B/R mock, with writer Jonathan Wasserman stating that such a selection could “set their backcourt of the future” with the youngster running alongside star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for years to come.