OKC Thunder will be hard to outbid on deal for top draft pick

As the NBA Draft approaches the OKC Thunder are actively invested in spending time with the prospects from the 2021 class. While this year is considered to be a very deep class there are significant gaps in the talent.

Depending on which analyst or team you ask, that elite tier is the quartet of Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and the two Jalen’s (Green and Suggs). However, there are some who feel Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Kuminga should be in the mix and possibly even rank higher than Suggs.

After ensuring the Thunder spent the better portion of the season invested in tanking the basketball Gods didn’t do OKC any favors in the NBA Draft Lottery. Despite having the fourth-best odds to land the top pick the Thunder fell to sixth. Adding insult to injury the Rockets retained their pick by landing the second selection.

If no trades are completed the OKC Thunder will select 6th, 16th, and 18th in the first round as well as 34th, 36th, and 55th in the second round.

OKC Thunder actively pursuing trade up for top pick in NBA Draft

With the absence of intel, the belief was Sam Presti wouldn’t simply accept the situation by sitting idly by. Rather it was assumed the executive VP would be turning over every stone looking for a path to trade up.

Today, confirmation of that information was forthcoming as ESPN insiders article noted:

"Teams including Cleveland, Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City are among those making overtures to evaluate what it would take to move up to the No. 1 slot, sources say, but those talks are at an early stage, and any trade is unlikely to be consummated until much closer to the draft, if at all."

Aside from the Thunder, the teams ESPN confirmed who are talking to the Pistons are the Cavaliers, Rockets, and Pelicans with hints there are other teams also calling.

OKC does have advantages over its competition on many fronts. First, there is the relationship between Presti and Troy Weaver. The duo worked together closely in OKC with Weaver last employed by the Thunder prior to accepting the GM role in Detroit.

More importantly, no other franchise has the draft capital that the OKC Thunder has. The Pelicans have a bevy of picks from the Jrue Holiday trade, the Cavaliers have copious second-round picks and the Rockets have a slew of picks from the James Harden deal. But none have anything close to the 38 picks Presti has in hand over the next seven seasons.

While each of those clubs has young assets they could use to sweeten the pot it’s a catch 22. Specifically, each team will want to retain its young core to build toward the future. The working assumption is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley, and Aleksej Pokusevski are either untouchable or very close to it.

In a similar vein, the other clubs inquiring about the top pick aren’t going to want to give up Christian Wood, Zion Williamson, or the other young stars on their clubs in order to net the top pick. All that does is swap one proven star for what could be a generational talent but without any core alongside him.

The one team to watch is the Rockets since they sit just one spot back of Detroit and if the Pistons are more covetous of Evan Mobley or one of the Jalen’s then the clubs could simply swap picks with Houston sweetening the deal with a future pick.

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Ultimately, it’s hard to envision any team could outbid Sam Presti for that top seed especially if Weaver keeps him in the loop on where the bar is.

Cunningham has been the definitive top pick on virtually every board but OKC Thunder fans have first-hand experience with Weaver marching to his own drum. The rumor mill is already abuzz that Detroit might prefer Jalen Green.

And that’s the biggest issue for Presti since he doesn’t have a top-four pick to swap with his former cohort. Let’s assume for a second that Detroit is open to trading down but has a specific target in mind. Presti may have to make multiple moves to facilitate landing the top pick. It could necessitate Presti making two draft-night deals just to get there.

The first would be to find a way to convince the Rockets (2), Cavaliers (3), or Raptors (4) to swap picks with them and then flipping the upgraded pick with Detroit.  Each scenario will require additional sweetener from the Thunder. Toronto would likely be more open if SGA or Dort were on the board whereas Houston and Cleveland might be more open to multiple draft picks.

They’ll be a lot of anxious waiting until July 29th but at least Thunder Nation knows Sam Presti will be actively working the phones and trying to pull another rabbit out of his hat.