What if the OKC Thunder nailed every draft pick since 2011?
By Rylan Stiles
The OKC Thunder missed on a three-time All-Star in the 2012 NBA Draft
In the 2012 NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Perry Jones with the 28th overall pick out of the University of Baylor. The OKC Thunder had high hopes for Jones, but he never panned out in the NBA. However, there is a problem with this redraft.
Picked behind Perry Jones in the 2012 Draft was future Hall of Famer Draymond Green, multi-time All-Star Khris Middleton, and an outstanding NBA contributor in Jae Crowder. Jae Crowder would have been a shot in the arm from beyond the arc to the OKC Thunder, but can you pick him over All-Stars?
That leaves the decision to Draymond Green and Khris Middleton. However, the question is, how good is Draymond Green’s skillset outside of Golden State? Green would still be an excellent role player, but he helps maximize that roster as that roster helps maximize his skills.
While Khris Middleton did not contribute right away, and there is no sure bet that he would be ready to compete on an NBA Championship-level team, I think his skillset fits the OKC Thunder best in a redraft to tie into that Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant core.
Even if Middleton needed to be slow played, he would eventually contribute way more to the team than Perry Jones did on the floor.