In a surprise turn of events, despite the fact that the Utah Jazz are deliberately sabotaging their season to try and hold onto their 2026 first-round draft rights, it's the OKC Thunder who have recently been receiving substantial criticism regarding the league-wide tanking dilemma.
On Friday, The Athletic's Tony Jones revealed that Oklahoma City has been "going through back channels" in an attempt to put pressure on Utah to stay competitive throughout the remainder of the campaign rather than throw in the towel with two months left in the regular season.
Considering they'd attain the rights to this year's lottery pick from the Jazz if it falls outside of the top eight, such news should come as little shock to anyone.
However, what is a bit perplexing is the backlash OKC has received in light of this report, as many are claiming hypocrisy and arguing that it was through these means that the Thunder were able to not only win the 2025 NBA Championship, but also position themselves to become the league's next great dynasty.
And guess who's pounding the proverbial drum of such a ludicrous statement: Draymond Green.
Draymond Green once again found taking questionable shot at Thunder
Over the years, the Warriors star has built up a reputation for taking ill-fitting shots at this Thunder squad.
His latest came during a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, where the four-time champion tried to make the case that Oklahoma City pulled the stunts the Jazz are currently being lambasted for during their early days of the post-Russell Westbrook era.
"Sam Presti's livid at what Utah is doing. Only problem with that is, Sam Presti just won a championship last year doing what Utah is doing," Green said.
For those who followed OKC's masterful rebuild following the ouster of Westbrook and Paul George back in the summer of 2019, it's already understood that these claims are categorically false.
In fact, the Thunder's approach to rebuilding was quite the opposite of the one the Jazz are currently taking.
The season they were expected to tank, where they came in widely projected to have a losing record and to contend for a lottery pick, came in 2019-20, where, instead, they were the Cinderella Story of the league with their 44-28 record and fifth-place finish in the Western Conference standings behind the brilliant, MVP-worthy efforts of one-and-done superstar Chris Paul (congratulations on one hell of a career, by the way!).
The next season, following CP3's departure under his own volition, yes, the Thunder were a rather underwhelming team, as they finished with the fourth-worst record in the association at 22-50 and, in turn, landed the sixth pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, which turned into Josh Giddey.
However, it's important to remember that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was shut down 43 games into the year, not because of some mysterious ailment like "injury management," but, rather, due to plantar fasciitis.
The year after that, with more injuries to Gilgeous-Alexander, matched with a youthful roster playing through one of the rougher schedules in the league, they once again fell to a sub-25 win season, where, in turn, they received the second overall pick in the 2022 draft, where they plucked up Chet Holmgren.
After this legitimately injury-riddled, short-lived stretch, it was all rise once Gilgeous-Alexander got back to full strength, and coach Mark Daigneault was able to develop eventual title foundation pieces like Holmgren, Lu Dort, and Jalen Williams, the latter two being individuals who came aboard not due to the club's record-based draft position, but through undrafted free agency and picks received via trade, respectively.
To compare the Thunder rebuild to Utah's overt tankfest, where they find themselves playing their key guys in Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. for three quarters, only to regularly pull them come the fourth, is quite an egregious reach.