Over the past few days, there’s been a lot of discussion surrounding the Thunder’s 2020 first round draft pick.
On Monday, its fate was finally determined, once and for all.
Back in 2016, the Thunder traded its 2020 first round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in the trade that saw Jerami Grant land in Oklahoma City, but the pick was traded with top-20 protection. In other words, the pick was traded to the Sixers on the condition that if it ended up being one of the draft’s top 20 picks, it would revert to the Thunder. In such an instance, the Thunder would instead trade its second round picks to the Sixers in 2022 and 2023.
Finally, we know for sure how this story ends, as the Thunder’s 2020 first round pick landed at 21st overall, so it’s heading to Philly.
With Mike Muscala’s buzzer-beating shot against the Heat, the Thunder clinched a regular season record that guaranteed the pick was fall outside of the top 20. Since then, we’ve known that the pick was destined to land in Philadelphia but it wasn’t until Monday that we knew exactly where the pick landed.
The reason for the lack of clarity was because the Thunder ended the regular season with the same record as the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz; all three teams ended the season at 44-28.
In the event teams finish the regular season with the same record, in order to determine draft order for playoff teams (or, with respect to lottery teams, their lottery odds), the NBA conducts a simple coin flip. On Monday, those results were announced. The Thunder won its coin flip over both the Rockets and Jazz.
In the end, what that means is that the Thunder’s first round draft pick landed at No. 21. As a result, as we’ve stated, it will be transferred to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Coincidentally, the Thunder will own the 25th pick, as they received the pick from Denver in exchange for Jerami Grant, who Sam Presti dealt last summer.
Looking at the two trades together, one could conclude that the only essentially moved back four spots in the draft (which isn’t so bad), but had the team lost one more game this past season, they would have had two first round picks this year — Denver’s pick plus its own pick. In that scenario, though, they would have had to give the Sixers two second round picks later on.
It’s all water under the bridge now, but it’s certainly an interesting “What if?” to keep in mind as the 2020 NBA Draft approaches.