Thunder double down on Otega Oweh selection before draft dust even settles

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, the second day of the 2026 NBA Draft never had a shot of surpassing the first round in terms of intrigue.

Although many thought the Thunder would be looking to move off of at least one of their first-round selections, they ultimately opted to make both, picking Aday Mara out of Michigan at 12th overall and Bennett Stirtz out of Iowa at 16th. Both picks address immediate needs on the roster, at least from a perspective of depth.

With the future of the center position somewhat unclear in Oklahoma City, Mara provides immediate size and rim protection, even if he'll be limited to a low-minute role initially. While Stirtz almost certainly won't play a major role immediately, he'll provide some much-needed insurance behind Ajay Mitchell and Nikola Topic as a bench guard.

But those weren't the only two positions Oklahoma City addressed in the Draft. After swapping the 37th overall pick with the Miami Heat for the 41st overall selection, the Thunder also nabbed Otega Oweh, an athletic wing with high defensive upside out of the University of Creighton.

Now, they've added another wing in Josh Dix, who they signed to a two-way contract as an undrafted free agent. In the same way that the Oweh pick is a long-term play to address a gap on the wing, Dix's perimeter shooting capabilities could make him an equally enticing solution given the right path of development.

Otega Oweh and Josh Dix aren't league-ready contributors, but they both have long-term upside on the wing

For the Thunder, wing hasn't been a roster need for quite a while. But with the departure of Aaron Wiggins in the trade with the Atlanta Hawks and the cloudy future surrounding Isaiah Joe, the Thunder definitely could stand to cycle in more 3-and-D talent.

Both Oweh and Dix fit that bill, just in opposite ways.

Oweh struggles to create his own offense and was inconsistent perimeter shooter throughout his time at college, but the mechanics and volume are there for him to develop his range at the NBA level. He averaged 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists across 36 games during his senior season, getting his production as a slasher and a play-finisher rather than an on-ball creator.

Where Oweh's upside lies, though, is in his defense. He's a strong on-ball defender, and he has the length and the lateral athleticism that makes the translation for players of his archetype to the NBA level slightly easier.

Dix, meanwhile, is a formidable perimeter shooter. Although his efficiency suffered greatly on a sub-par Creighton team last season— he sunk just 33.8% of his shots from beyond the arc as a Senior— he hit his 3-pointers at a 40% clip or higher during each of his three previous college seasons.

He has the right size and frame for the position as well. But even at 6'6", there are still doubts about Dix's lateral athleticism and how he will transition to the NBA as a defender. It's likely that he'll need to prove himself in the Thunder's system either at the G-League level or in a minimized two-way role before he's granted any real time on the court.

Both picks, however, represent a direct return to the Thunder's organizational ethos after a bit of a surprising first round— size, length, perimeter shooting, and defensive upside will always be highly-valued skills to this Oklahoma City squad. Dix and Oweh, in different ways, match that description almost to a tee.

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