Just days after winning their first NBA Championship since relocating from Seattle back in 2008, the OKC Thunder are already looking to make moves.
At least, that's what ESPN's Jonathan Givony is currently reporting, as he revealed during a recent appearance on SportsCenter that he keeps "hearing rumblings" that Oklahoma City is interested in moving up into the lottery of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Such an idea has been frequently circulating through the rumor mill over the past few months, though, now with the Larry O'Brien Trophy officially secured in their possession, Givony believes that "it's not clear on their roster that they have any real needs right now," and, because of this, "they can afford to take a swing on a high-upside prospect."
When looking at this year's class, it appears there would be no shortage of promising young ballers they could consider taking in the event that they move up just a few spots on the board.
In fact, by combining their number 15, 24, and 44 overall picks and using them in an outbound package, they could realistically land one of the youngest and most intriguing players slated to be selected in the top 10 on Wednesday night.
Thunder must consider moving up in 2025 NBA Draft for Noa Essengue
Described by some as a cross between Jerami Grant and Pascal Siakam, Noa Essengue is without question the ideal high-upside target this Thunder team should be eying if they move up in the NBA Draft.
Boasting the play and athleticism of a wing and the size of a modern-day power forward/ center hybrid (6-foot-10, 198 pounds), the 18-year-old seemingly fits the mold of a coveted Sam Presti talent to a T.
However, unlike past passion projects (Darius Bazley, Aleksej Pokusevski, etc.), Essengue has already proven himself capable of positively contributing to winning basketball at the professional level, as he played a major role in guiding Ulm to this year's German BBL Finals after posting impressive per-game averages of 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.4 steals on 56.0 percent shooting.
While there are still some areas in his game that could use some work (Ex. shot just 29.4 percent from deep in 2024-25, described as being "about 80 percent limbs," etc.), at his age and with his impressive athleticism, underrated strength for someone of his size, and elite rotational switchability, with the proper tutelage and guidance, Noa Essengue could realistically have star upside.
Considering they're about to make some serious financial decisions this coming summer, the Thunder should be high on the idea of adding this kind of potential via a rookie-scale deal.