The Thunder have the sixth pick. It’s not the way the team hoped the NBA draft lottery would go, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find a good player.
ESPN posted a mock draft shortly after the lottery and predicted how the Thunder would use their first top-10 pick since they took James Harden.
In Jonathan Givony’s mock, the Thunder took forward Scottie Barnes at No. 6.
Givony wrote:
“Barnes is still a solid player at No. 6, offering the type of defensive versatility, playmaking ability, toughness and winning character the franchise is looking for. Barnes will have a long rope to experiment with expanding his offensive abilities on a team with significant player development resources that is seemingly in no rush to win games.”
Barnes is extremely athletic and a strong defender, but he lacks a shot. He averaged about 10 points per game and attempted just 1.7 3-pointers per game and made 27.5% of them.
Nevertheless, with his ability to play the 3, 4 and potentially 5 with his 6-foot-9 height and 7-foot-2 wingspan, the Florida State forward feels like a fit for the Thunder.
Givony also pointed out that the Thunder could try to trade up.
“The Thunder have plenty of future picks to use in a trade if they want to attempt to move up if they indeed have their heart set on someone in the top three.”
Here are Oklahoma City’s other picks in ESPN’s mock draft.
