Woo: “Educated Theories” OKC might pick Paolo Banchero

The Oklahoma City Thunder were finally rewarded with NBA Draft Lottery luck. The OKC Thunder walked away from Tuesday’s draft lottery with the second overall pick after team representative Nick Collison promised to bring luck to Chicago. Now, the fun begins. From speculation, rumors, tea leaves, and a month of envisioning the top of this draft classes fit with this Thunder squad. Will Sam Presti pick Chet Holmgren? Paolo Banchero? Jabari Smith Jr? Will it be a mystery player out of left field?

The possibilities are endless for the Oklahoma City Thunder organization which truly controls the 2022 NBA Draft with selections at 2, 12, 30, and 34. With rumors, that they might trade up from the 12 slot to gain another top-end talent already swirling, Presti’s phone will be ringing off the hook for the next month.

Many believe The Thunder general manager will have his sights set on Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren, a seven-foot ball-handler with incredible perimeter skills that is best described as a “designer brand Aleksej Pokusevski” who Presti fell in love with just two drafts ago. However, with Presti’s nag for zagging and bucking trends, plus the Magic owning the top pick, it opens the door to come…”educated theories.”

Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo says rumors swirling at the NBA combine surrounding Paolo Banchero and the OKC Thunder

As the NBA Combine comes and goes this week in the windy city, it is time for the draft scuttlebutt to hit an all-time high. The combine is when the first pieces of information begin to leak, then the top name players will begin the process of private workouts with teams starting next week, and agents, scouts, team executives, and players themselves will begin leaking more information to those of us in the media. The question becomes what is real and what is fake? Who is playing you for leverage? People are not offering up information without an agenda.

Despite the Magic owning the top overall pick, the headlines have gone to Oklahoma City, with NBA executives, fans, and media wondering what the team will do with the second overall pick. SI’s draft expert Jeremy Woo notes that Chet Holmgren will be hard for Sam Presti to pass on. Though he did say that this week at the combine there have been “educated theories” that Paolo Banchero could be the guy for Oklahoma City, especially if the Magic select Chet Holmgren first overall.

Look, who knows what educated theories mean, who knows which team or party is leaking this info, and still no clear direction from the Magic as to who they are picking at one though many have pegged them for Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr, we will continue to update every rumor we hear.

Paolo Banchero is a sure-fire top-three selection with gifted interior scoring, the best ability to create his own shot of the top three, and many claim the best shot at being a star-level player despite his defensive question marks and lowly 32-percent shooting from distance in college which is by far the worst of the three perceived candidates for the second selection.