OKC Thunder players and sleepers to draft in NBA fantasy league

The others including some OKC Thunder players to consider:

Snellings earmarked Dejounte Murray, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Haliburton, Ben Simmons (due to uncertainty about if he’ll play and more accurately where he’ll play), and rookie Jalen Suggs in his fifth through eighth rounds. For the ninth and final round, he tapped Robert Williams III, SGA’s cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kevin Porter Jr., Keldon Johnson, and Marvin Bagley III.

I’m not buying the Suggs hype and while it’s understandable why Snellings likes the guard I’d actually bet good money Scottie Barnes will end up with more assists, steals, and blocks than Suggs while Jalen Green is the rookie most likely to run away with the rookie scoring title.  Porter Jr. and Johnson are great picks which I agree with fully as both will expand their games this season and have extra responsibilities which should impact their overall stats.

In terms of OKC Thunder “others,” either Ty Jerome or Kenrich Williams feel like solid late-round picks to consider particularly given how many boxes they typically fill up and the efficiency with which they do it. Likewise, if rookie Josh Giddey keeps filling up the stat sheet he could be a sneaky late-round pick as he flirts with triple-doubles nightly.

The difficult part of selecting fantasy players from the Thunder other than SGA is the team wants to tank. That could equate to shutting a player down for two weeks because he has a hangnail.

Mark Daigneault doesn’t strike us to be a coach who would yank a hot shooter out of a game but the reality of needing to lose will be ever-present this season and the club can’t afford to be terrible but not bad enough to land a bottom three seed.

Another tidbit I’ll throw out is former OKC Thunder player Steven Adams. No, the Big Kiwi won’t be collecting huge points but for fantasy buffs looking for someone to get them, rebounds should consider Adams particularly in the late rounds.

Memphis traded Jonas Valanciunas who was averaging a double-double for them in order to see what they have in Jaren Jackson Jr.  Yet, for as much as the Grizzlies are invested in JJJ, he’ll spread the floor more often than park himself in the paint. That means Adams will have easy access to rebounds and blocks and could be a great late-round steal.

On the other end of the spectrum for former OKC Thunder players, the favorite son Russell Westbrook is likely to take a hit in stats this year playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He’s still the Brodie so don’t abandon selecting him completely but consider moving him down in your draft order.

On the injury front, with Thompson set to miss part of the season and Jordan Poole absolutely feasting in preseason he’d be a great late-round steal. Poole averaged 23.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists plus 1.3 steals in preseason play with a solid shooting efficiency.

This season offers plenty of sleepers with so many rosters making significant changes. When compiling your draft sheet make sure to include SGA as he’ll undoubtedly be in the mix for Most Improved Player and consider the late-round OKC Thunder steals we suggested.