The OKC Thunder and their fanbase have spent the majority of the 2020-21 campaign positioning themselves for a successful offseason, and the first domino to fall on the summer schedule will be July’s NBA Draft.
Despite getting off to somewhat of a surprising start to the year, finding themselves in and out of the play-in tournament picture through the first half of the schedule, post the All-Star break it was evident that Oklahoma City officially invested themselves into the tank with their multitude of rotational decisions.
This, coupled with the injury to their star guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, that sidelined him for the final 28 games of the season played a huge part in the team’s fourth-worst overall record in the entire league at 22-50.
Of course, as many fans are aware, the final game of the season hurt OKC’s chances a bit when it comes to vying for the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, as they went on to beat the championship-contending Los Angeles Clippers by a final score of 117-112.
To some, it was an inspiring victory for a team that endured their worst season (winning-percentage wise) in franchise history. For the majority of fans, however, it was a pointless win that, in turn, ended up having the team ‘punt’ on their best shot at winning the draft lottery.
If they had dropped the final outing of the regular season, they would have found themselves in a three-way tie alongside the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons to nab the top slot on the night.
With this added victory, however, the front office sees itself heading into this year’s lottery tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers as having an 11.5 percent chance of snatching up the highly coveted first overall pick.
The top-5 in these specific standings read as follows:
- Houston Rockets
- Detroit Pistons
- Orlando Magic
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- OKC Thunder