The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions and standard-setters for developing talent. Sam Presti has made a habit out of acing the draft and helping promising prospects turn into high-level or even star-caliber players in the Association.
If there's one draft that haunts the Thunder the most, however, it's likely 2021—when it traded No. 16 pick Alperen Sengun to the Houston Rockets.
Oklahoma City received two heavily-protected first-round draft picks from Houston in exchange for Sengun. The selections originally belonged to the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, which unfortunately experienced tremendous lows that prevented the first-rounders from conveying.
The Thunder remained diligent in their efforts to improve, and ultimately won a championship that offsets a vast majority of other concerns.
Unfortunately, the 2025 NBA Draft was yet another reminder of what could've been. The pick they received from the Pistons was turned into a deal for Ousmane Dieng, which the New York Knicks later included in their trade for Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have now turned that pick into Joan Beringer, thus finalizing another part of one of the few deals Presti likely regrets.
Timberwolves select Joan Beringer with pick Thunder acquired for All-Star center Alperen Sengun
The Wizards' pick has yet to convey, which offers a degree of optimism over the return for Sengun. It has top-eight protections in place for the 2026 NBA Draft, however, which could result in the pick conveying as a second-round selection instead.
As such, there's a realistic possibility that the Thunder have traded Sengun for Dieng and a second-round pick—a woefully underwhelming return.
Oklahoma City's decision to utilize one of the picks it acquired for Sengun to land Dieng at the 2022 NBA Draft has yielded polarizing results. Dieng has struggled to secure consistent playing time with the Thunder, appearing in 109 games and averaging 12.3 minutes per contest through three seasons.
Dieng has thrived in the developmental league, however, winning the G League championship and Finals MVP award in 2024.
Sengun, meanwhile, is 22 years of age and has already been named an NBA All-Star. He was the go-to player for a 52-win Houston Rockets team in 2024-25, thriving as both a scorer and a facilitator while simultaneously dominating the glass.
Over the past two seasons, Sengun has accumulated averages of 20.0 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.8 blocks on 51.5 percent shooting from the field.
The Thunder, meanwhile, paid Isaiah Hartenstein $87 million over three years to fill the void at center. Sengun's five-year, $185 million deal will begin in 2025-26, but one can't help wonder what Oklahoma City could've accomplished with him on a rookie-scale deal through 2024-25.
Thankfully, the investment in Hartenstein was exactly what Oklahoma City needed to get over the hump and win a title.