Though the OKC Thunder are still in the hunt for a shot at a championship run in this year's playoffs and, thus, were not directly involved in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, the club still was significantly affected by how the event ultimately unfolded.
Heading into the festivities, there were several storylines pertaining to this Oklahoma City squad that warranted attention from both the fans and the franchise as a whole.
Easily the most notable were their ownership of restricted rights to both the Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz's first-round selections, with the former holding a top-six curtailment while the latter was top-10.
In the end, the two teams benefited from favorable ping-pong ball bounces, with the Sixers landing the third overall slot and the Jazz locking in at fifth, and will now hold onto their picks for the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft.
Such an outcome officially makes the Thunder's dream of having three additional selections fall in the first round crumble down to a reality with only one extra in their possession (No. 15 via the Miami Heat).
Surprisingly, however, this wasn't even the worst part of the lottery for OKC. Instead, it was the once unfathomable conclusion that saw the Dallas Mavericks earn the top selection for this June's draft.
Mavericks winning NBA Draft Lottery hurts 2028 swap value for Thunder
In a shocking turn of events, the Mavericks, who held just a 1.8 percent chance of winning the lottery, now hold ownership of the top pick in next month's NBA Draft.
With it, the expectation is that the franchise will go on to take 18-year-old Duke phenom Cooper Flagg, who is considered by many to be one of the most hyped up prospects of all time.
After a campaign that saw Dallas endure a number of grueling hardships that include Kyrie Irving's ACL tear and, of course, Luka Doncic's untimely departure via mid-season trade, this surprise turn of events is likely one that Mavs fans are over the moon with glee about.
However, for the Thunder and their faithful followers, this result is quite a somber one.
Amid Dallas' spiral, excitement over the 2028 NBA Draft started to percolate among OKC fans, as the organization owns the right to swap picks during this particular occasion thanks to the 2024 deal that ultimately helped land them Daniel Gafford.
Following the Doncic-for-Anthony Davis swap back in February, it looked as though the Mavericks had capped their potential upside in the immediate future and, by creating a new core centered around two players who will be entering their mid-30s and are owed north of $40 million a year, it only increased the likelihood of the roster being blown up within the next few seasons.
Add all this to the fact that Dallas went 14-18 after the earth-shattering blockbuster and missed the playoffs altogether, and the chances of the 2028 rights holding top-tier value seemed to skyrocket.
Sadly, Monday's lottery may have halted this rousing momentum, for the concept of adding a 6-foot-9, two-way wunderkind like Flagg to this team that was just in the NBA Finals last year and managed to win 39 games during this whirlwind of a season should only strengthen their ability to be competitive for the forseeable future.
As a result, one could argue that the way this year's draft lottery wound up playing out may have torpedoed OKC's unprotected 2028 pick-swap with the Mavericks.
At the very least, it didn't do its perceived value any favors.