Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

2 teams that could trade draft capital to the OKC Thunder

By Mark Nilon

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 25: Kemba Walker #8 of the Boston Celtics dribbles during the first half of Game Two of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on May 25, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 25: Kemba Walker #8 of the Boston Celtics dribbles during the first half of Game Two of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on May 25, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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The OKC Thunder are a team with their eyes set on the future, and their building their way towards it by means of the NBA Draft.

Despite the fact that this franchise has established itself as a team constantly vying for postseason contention, what with having made it to the second season in 11 of their 13 years of existence, Sam Presti and co. have Oklahoma City embarking on a totally new journey — a full-fledged rebuild.

Already in full swing, what with the fact that they parted with virtually every top-contributing factor from their Cinderella story 2019-20 run, the Thunder now head into the 2021 offseason coming off of their worst campaign (win percentage wise) in franchise history, boasting the fourth-worst record in the league at 22-50.

Now, while on the surface such a turnout may appear to be unfortunate, their lowly campaign actually has played out quite nicely for their future endeavors, as they hold the fourth-best odds of landing the top selection in this year’s draft and a 52.5 percent chance of having their pick land within the top-5.

Thanks in large to the wheeling and dealing from the front office over the last several seasons, not only do the Thunder have great draft value already with their own pick, but they’ll be finding themselves on the board twice in the first-round come the illustrious night, as they own the rights to either the Rockets’ (if it falls outside of the top four) or the Miami Heat’s pick.

Not only this, but thanks to Presti’s excellence, Oklahoma City holds the rights to 34 total picks through the year 2027.

Now, at this point, one may envision the team may be done with cultivating draft capital. However, the folks at Bleacher Report are under a different impression, as they believe the ‘blueprint’ for the OKC Thunder this summer should be to continue collecting assets.

While we at TI may sing a different tune than those at B/R, at this point, counting the front office out when it comes to chasing more capital would be a foolish thing to do.

Because of this, we have gone about and compiled a list of 2 teams that we could see the franchise pursuing draft capital from this summer:

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