Why Oklahoma City Thunder Should Consider Tanking the Upcoming Season

The 2nd overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft for the Oklahoma City Thunder Chet Holmgren being ruled out of the 2022-23 NBA regular season raised many concerns from the fan base about his fragility. Although next year’s projected first overall pick could well have the same concerns, being able to pile up potential assets on top of what they already have is a very advantageous position to be in.

The OKC Thunder were dealt a bad hand to start the 2022-23 season, and the team might need to pivot their plans for this year to focus entirely on their draft positioning in the 2023 NBA Draft.

The benefits of the Oklahoma City Thunder tanking during the home stretch of the 2022-23 NBA season

The Oklahoma City Thunder is deep in young, up-and-coming talent and future draft picks. The franchise is off to a great start in its rebuild attempt. Between the plethora of young players and their future draft assets, they are in a good position to land a championship-level core.

The one thing that every Oklahoma City Thunder fan feared, happened, Chet Holmgren is out for the season due to injury. The possibility of this happening was at the back of everyone’s minds and has been a common concern among analysts. However, it was staved off to this point, as Holmgren had never experienced an injury to this point of his career.

This is why a contingency plan needs to be in place in case Holmgren will take longer than expected to recover, and when he does there will be uncertainty as to how well he will perform.

On the other hand, the projected Number 1 pick next year, Victor Wembanyama, has nearly the same game and frame as Holmgren which will definitely raise more concerns, along with a pre-existing injury history (which Holmgren avoided). However, it is the profile that the Thunder needs.

Picking someone like Wembanyama provides the team and its fans reassurance that the future remains secure.

For such a young team wading through the league in the hopes of getting into the playoffs for a chance to raise a championship trophy, tanking offers so much more. It gives them the chance to create an even stronger foundation for a championship core. It can help fast-track the process by trading those assets for a superstar that will complement the team.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have everything they need to build a championship team. However, unforeseen circumstances, such as Holmgren’s injury, leaves you wondering.

This season will be fun to watch in Bricktown, but tanking games toward the end of the season might be their best option to improve their long-term outlook. The 2023 NBA Draft class goes beyond just Victor Wembanyama, it is as deep of a class as the 2021 class that netted the Thunder Josh Giddey with the sixth overall pick.

While Wembanyama is the prize, even the uncertainty around the draft lottery is not a deterrent from tanking as the class is chock-full of high-end, franchise-changing talent.