OKC Thunder: Draft lottery odds to be decided Tuesday via coin flip

The two main objectives for the OKC Thunder throughout the 2020-21 season were to give their young talents ample playing time and to secure a bottom-tier record to better their chances of landing a top-tier selection in July’s NBA Draft.

While both goals were achieved, as Oklahoma City found itself with one of the youngest rosters in the entire league — rolled out the youngest starting lineup in NBA history during an April 10th bout against the Philadelphia 76ers — and finished with the fourth-worst record in the association at 22-50, there are some who believe things should have gone a bit better by year’s end.

In specific, we’re referring to the Thunder’s surprising win against the Los Angeles Clippers during their regular-season finale, where they came away from the matchup with a 117-112 victory.

Seemingly punting away their best shot at winning the upcoming NBA Draft lottery, if they were to have dropped the final outing, the OKC Thunder would find themselves tied with the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons to land the top slot come the illustrious night and, at worst, would’ve received the seventh pick.

Now, with this added win, they’ll have to wait on a literal coin flip to determine if they get the fourth or fifth best lottery odds.

Currently tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers in regard to their odds of landing the No. 1 pick, Tuesday it will be determined who of these two will be the favorites to land the higher selection.

Should the Thunder win, they would find themselves having a 52.5 percent chance of landing a top-five selection as well as an 11.5 percent chance of nabbing the highly coveted first-overall pick.

However, on the flip side (no pun intended), should they lose the 50/ 50 scenario their chances of nabbing the top selection will remain the same, but their odds to land within the top-five would drop to 47.1 percent.

It all comes down to a simple coin flip and, once a champion is crowned, we at TI will have you updated with the latest buzz surrounding the OKC Thunder and the 2021 NBA Draft.