The NBA Draft Lottery will occur on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. That will be when we learn the fate of Victor Wembanyama’s next team and see if anyone makes a surprise leap into the top four of the draft. The OKC Thunder have a shot at getting into the top four, an eight percent chance to be exact. So how does the roster look heading into Tuesday?
How does the OKC Thunder roster shape up heading into Tuesday’s NBA Draft Lottery?
The Oklahoma City Thunder rattled off 40 wins this past season. The Bricktown boys did that without their lone top-five pick of this rebuild, as Chet Holmgren sat the entire season due to a foot injury.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leaped to Superstar status after many just hoped for his first All-Star nod, Jalen Williams posted the best rookie season this franchise has seen, and Josh Giddey’s year two leap continues to go under the radar.
Sam Presti made many roster moves throughout the season, and some players took a step back rather than a step forward. After all, progression is not linear, as Mark Daigneault tries to pound that phrase into our heads in the Thunder media room (it is working, I say it in everyday life now). So what does the roster look like heading into the Summer?
Thunder roster breakdown:
- Guards (5): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Tre Mann, and Isaiah Joe.
- Forwards (5): Jalen Williams, Kenrich Williams, Ousmane Dieng, Aaron Wiggins, and Lindy Waters III
- Bigs (4): Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Aleksej Pokusevski.
- Two-Ways: The Thunder have not yet filled any of their three two-way contracts.
- Total Players: 14
- Total Draft picks: 3 (Projected to be 12, 35, and 37)
- Free Agents: Dario Saric (unrestricted), Jared Butler (two-way restricted), and Olivier Sarr (two-way restricted)
- NOTE: Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Lindy Waters III are on deals that feature options or portions of non-guaranteed money.
At a minimum, the Thunder owes a roster spot to the 12th overall pick on a standard deal. OKC could also trade back or out of the second round altogether. However, it is important to note prospects do not start inking two-way deals as draft picks until around the 40s. So if OKC did select at 12, 35, and 37, they would need to create roster spots as all of those picks would demand standard deals.
The Summer has yet to start, and the roster churn is already going to be challenging to juggle for Sam Presti and company.