Considering they are on pace to claim the Western Conference's top-seed for the second-straight season, roster the odds-on favorite to win MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and sport the best net rating in the association at 12.5, the OKC Thunder have unequivocally established themselves as the "It" team of the NBA in 2024-25.
However, what makes the ball club all the more exciting is the fact that they may be able to get even better with bare minimum effort, what with the slew of draft picks coming their way over the next several years.
Thanks to the wheeling and dealing ways of storied GM Sam Presti, Oklahoma City will have a total of 32 draft picks through 2031, 15 of which could potentially be in the first round.
This second half of the regular season will have a substantial impact on whether one of these high-end picks, in particular, will fall into their hands.
That said, due to some recent unfortunate events, the organization's luck could soon be turning for the worse.
Paul George injury could cost Thunder potential first-round pick
During the summer of 2020, the Thunder participated in a salary-dumping move with the Philadelphia 76ers, where they took on the remaining three years, $81 million of Al Horford's undesirable deal. In exchange, the Sixers coughed up a first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft with a top-six protection attached.
Now, at the time, the idea was that Philadelphia was on the cusp of becoming a regular title contender and, as a result, expected to frequently find their draft stock residing in the mid-to-late stages of round one.
However, little did they know that once the year for them to pay up came about, they'd be absolutely decimated by widespread injuries and boast the sixth-worst record in the entire league at 21-40 with just over a month left to go in the regular season.
With their current standing, they have a 54.2 percent chance of seeing their pick be sent to the Thunder this summer and, even with Joel Embiid now shelved for the rest of the year with a knee injury, keeping the likes of Tyrese Maxey and Paul George in the fold only increases the odds of this exchange taking place -- after all, despite their struggles, they are just three wins out from the play-in.
That said, even if they were to clinch the 10 seed, without Embiid, Philadelphia is far from a serious playoff threat.
Considering this, coupled with George's multitude of health ailments endured (most recently a groin injury) throughout his debut campaign with the club, there's been growing buzz about how the 76ers may be on the verge of shutting the All-Star wing down as well.
Not only would this allow the team to give their cornerstones ample recovery time in hopes of a far more prosperous 2025-26 season, but it would also all but guarantee a rest-of-season tankathon for Philly, which, in turn, would only improve their odds of holding onto their first-round draft rights for this June's festivities.
Even falling into the bottom five of the league record-wise would increase their chances of retaining their pick to 63.9 percent.
As a result, the Thunder's hopes of claiming the Sixers' projected high-end selection would subsequently be dashed, which is a stark contrast to the tune that was being sung just a few short days ago.