Best moments of 2021 for the OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder select…Josh Giddey at sixth overall in the 2021 NBA Draft

The OKC Thunder failed to get lottery luck during the silly ping pong ball drawling ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft it could have gone much worse for the Thunder organization. The team had a shot to capture the Houston Rockets selection and pick twice within the top five. Instead, OKC was pegged for pick-six while Houston nabbed the second overall pick.

The Rockets’ job was easy, attempt to trade up for Cunningham then eventually settle on Jalen Green who the team locked in on seemingly from lottery night. The Thunder did not have such a clear path.

On draft night, Jonathan Kuminga slipped to pick six after Cunningham, Green, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, and Jalen Suggs went ahead of Sam Presti’s organization. Barnes is who the Thunder reportedly loved as did the Raptors, then the smoke shifted to James Bouknight as Thunder fans, myself included, fell in love with the UCONN guard.

With Kuminga, who was a consensus top-five pick all draft cycle until about a week before the even and Bouknight on the board, everyone thought OKC would pick between the two. Though, expect the unexpected with Presti.

The Oklahoma City Thunder while blowing smoke about Bouknight, had private workouts in Vegas with Josh Giddey who told the media during his predraft media availability he was not able to do pre-draft workouts due to his obligations with the Austria National Team ahead of the Olympics.

Giddey told his agent after the workout to get him to OKC, and it all worked out at pick-six. This surprising selection left Thunder Twitter spiraling as it breaks conventional wisdom. Later, it was revealed that the Warriors would have scooped up Giddey at pick seven had he slipped pasted Presti.

During the NBA Summer League, the prize selection only played a pair of positions before hurting his ankle and being shelved until the NBA season. Giddey did not disappoint. He has been a starter from Mark Daigneault and the Thunder organization from the word go. So far in his rookie year, he is averaging 11-points, seven rebounds, and six assists on forty percent shooting from the floor. Josh Giddey has won two Rookie of the Months award for the Western Conference (in two chances) and became the youngest player to record a triple-double in NBA history.

Josh Giddey represents a beckon of hope for the fanbase, the organization, and will be a pillar for this rebuild and the next Thunder run at a championship.

So there you have it, the best moments from 2021 for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Did all of these crack your list? What was left off? What are you looking forward to most in 2022? Happy New Year!