The OKC Thunder may have just won the 2025 NBA Finals, but that doesn't mean they can't improve even further next season and beyond.
Wednesday night, they took the first step toward doing exactly that, as they selected Thomas Sorber with the 15 overall selection in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Tabbed as a team that has no "real needs right now" from a roster perspective, the belief was that Sam Presti and company would reach for the stars with their 15 overall selection, and they did exactly that with their decision to pick up the high-upside talents of the Georgetown standout.
Of course, in doing so, they are now guaranteed to experience the ugly side of having the deepest roster in the entire association, for Oklahoma City will need to move on from at least one of their players just to make room for the likes of the 19-year-old.
Thunder must move at least one player after drafting Thomas Sorber
Heading into Wednesday night's festivities, it was already well known that unless the Thunder opted to kick the can down the road and trade their picks in 2025 for capital in future drafts they'd be faced with the gut-wrenching task of moving on from at least one of the players that was apart of their 2025 title run.
Though the idea of adding a shot-swatting extraordinaire like Sorber to the reigning champion's rotation for next season may be exciting in one sense, parting ways with any one of the ballers that filled out one through 15 to create a rotation spot is going to be brutal.
Now, of course, guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren are viewed as immovable commodities for the ball club, while the likes of Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Hartenstein are close behind on this front.
However, this leaves roughly eight other players who could realistically be on the chopping block now that Sorber is Oklahoma City-bound, with three, in particular, who should be viewed as the most likely to receive the boot.
While it may go without saying that having Thomas Sorber's two-way attributes that saw him post tremendous averages of 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks during his one-and-done season with the Hoyas will be an absolute luxury on the roster behind the likes of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, it still doesn't make the thought of prematurely moving on from one of their other players any easier.