With the NBA Draft just nine days from now the OKC Thunder are actively working on figuring out their plan for draft night. Sam Presti has six picks at his disposal including the 6th, 16th, and 18th in the first round and 34th, 36th, and 55th in the second round.
The big question is whether VP of Basketball Operations, Sam Presti will pull off yet another draft night deal packaging some of those six picks to move up or target a specific player. Last year Presti did precisely that to go after high risk, high reward youngster Aleksej Pokusevski.
Certainly, the Thunder are most covetous of Cade Cunningham but that’s no surprise as every team in the association wants the Oklahoma State star on their club. Presti will leave no stone unturned to try to convince former Thunder front-office peer Troy Weaver into making a trade. Yet, let’s be honest — what incentive does Weaver have to part with a player who is considered a generational talent?
Presti could also look to make a deal to trade up the trio cemented to be drafted in the top four (Jalen Green, Evan Mobley, or Jalen Suggs). Barring that event there are a number of prospects who are still very appealing including Scottie Barnes.
Chad Ford suggests OKC Thunder could make deal to nab Alperen Sengun
However, one player that Sam Presti and the OKC Thunder might want to take a big swing for is Alperen Sengun. As Intentions highlighted in our recent draft profile he’s a player who could develop into a star in the NBA. He’s only 18 and feasted playing for Besiktas of the Turkish League lining up versus grown men.
In a recent Locked on Mavs podcast, Chad Ford offered insight on Sengun and confirmed the Thunder should be excited about adding him.
"“And, let’s see what Oklahoma City does. You know they’ve got 16 and 18, ah — they’re always looking to move up. He’s (Sengun) an Oklahoma City player all the way as well. I know they’re sitting at 16, but I’m not sure that they’ll be there at 16 on draft night. ”"
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With this statement, Ford simultaneously notes the Thunder are/should be interested in Sengun but hidden in that statement is the draft guru suggests it’s highly likely OKC will shift their draft order.
Ford opines on Alperen Sengun calling him a savant and compares his talent to Luka Doncic in terms of his natural feel for the game. He notes how Doncic was previewed as unathletic and non-defensive when he was a prospect and likens Sengun as receiving very similar reads from analysts who aren’t necessarily familiar with his game.
Ford reminds listeners that the Turkish League is considered among the best Euro Leagues and suggests Sengun’s talents shouldn’t be downplayed or underestimated.
Intentions are uber high on this young talented big man and would be happy if the OKC Thunder ended up moving up to grab him in a similar fashion to what they did with POKU last season. For those wanting more details on the 18-year-old, you can peruse Intentions draft profile on the youngster.