The Thunder would be penalized in a five-year re-draft.
It’s no secret that evaluating talent and making the right decisions in the NBA Draft is critical for a well-run team aiming to develop a long-term contender. The Oklahoma City Thunder has done exactly that in their brief history, and it has helped them develop a contender in a new era of basketball.
It began with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden in the team’s initial push at contention and has since stretched to the team’s acquisition of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to bolster its current squad.
How might things turn out in the “ultimate” NBA five-year re-draft? Bleacher Report answered the question, and the Thunder would lose two of their finest players. With the Thunder picking No. 14 from a draft pool of players selected between 2019 and 2023, they land forward Franz Wagner, who is now with the Orlando Magic.
“Somewhere, Sam Presti is smiling.” Because, in one sense, this process is all about determining how well each organization has drafted over the last five years,” Bleacher Report noted. “The fact that the Oklahoma City Thunder lost both Chet Holmgren (No. 8) and Jalen Williams (No. 11) in the top half of this redraft highlights Presti’s rebuilding efforts. However, following those losses, the Thunder’s other universe is severely short in frontcourt skill.
As Bleacher Report noted, this is a praise to the Thunder’s general manager and the rest of the team. They’ve dominated the draft, as well as every other area of roster development. However, acquiring a talented striker like Wagner would not be a loss.
“Orlando’s Franz Wagner may not do as many things as Holmgren does or be as useful as J-Dub—and at small forward, he surely isn’t a direct replacement for either. “He also needs to improve his three-point shot (28.1 percent) to be a true Robin to Paolo Banchero’s Batman,” Bleacher Report stated. “But the 22-year-old can do a little bit of everything—and more than a little in the scoring department.”
The alternate world isn’t as fun or simple for the Thunder, but they do get a great forward, which doesn’t make up for losing two young, growing excellent players. Again, it demonstrates the team’s ability to draft wisely and take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.
