As the Warriors and Suns prepare for their win and you're in Play-In Tournament bout Friday night, the rest of the NBA awaits in bone-chilling fear as the outcome of the game could only make the 2026 lottery pick owed to the OKC Thunder even stronger.
With Golden State eliminating the Clippers from postseason contention earlier this week, the unprotected first-round rights Los Angeles owed Oklahoma City as a result of the infamous Paul George trade became a lock to fall within the top-14 picks on draft night.
This alone is enough to send shivers down the spines of all 29 other teams in the association, for the idea of the defending champions and current favorites to run it back adding a lottery talent to their arsenal for next year would only further strengthen their embarrassment of riches roster depth.
However, what could make matters even worse is if the Dubs pull off a win over Phoenix, for doing so would lock the Clippers into the 11 spot heading into the May 10 NBA Draft Lottery, which, as everyone should be well aware of at this point, was the same standing the Mavericks held last year when they miraculously landed the rights to the top pick which, ultimately, became Cooper Flagg.
Though the odds would be a lowly 8.5 percent chance of falling into the top-four slots on the night, let alone a mere 1.8 percent chance of them actually winning the number one overall pick, considering the upheaval that came about following Dallas' lucky turn of events, it's safe to say the league is praying that nothing close to such a turnout will come about for the Thunder.
Thunder would cherish a first-round matchup against Warriors
Whoever wins Friday night will place as the eighth seed in the West. Outside of the fact that it would improve their draft odds, the Thunder should undoubtedly be rooting for the Warriors to pull away victorious over the Suns due to the simple fact that they should prove to be a rather preferable opponent to face in round one.
Yes, the Suns also shouldn't be seen as all that great of a threat to upset OKC right out of the gates, but this season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company have absolutely buried Golden State in all of their matchups while barely breaking a sweat.
In their season series, the Thunder effortlessly swept the Dubs 4-0, pulling away with an average point differential of plus-20.
Now, granted, only one of these games was played with the legendary Stephen Curry in the lineup, but, even still, that lone contest saw Golden State be bested by a whopping 24 points.
Sure, they may have Steph in tow for a possible playoff showdown, but the rest of the Warriors' rotation is absolutely ravaged by injuries, as they'll be playing without key guys like Jimmy Butler (torn ACL) and Moses Moody (torn left patellar tendon) in the fold.
On top of this, it seems that if they do make it to the quarterfinals, the Warriors would also be playing with a far-from-full-strength Kristaps Porzingis, who's heading into their matchup against Phoenix as "questionable" due to a right ankle ailment.
All things considered, the Thunder should be rooting hard for Golden State this Friday.
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