The Oklahoma City Thunder may have gotten worse on the court this offseason, but HoopsHype thinks they made all the right moves to set up their future.
HoopsHype put together a ranking of each NBA team’s offseason. The Thunder came in at No. 4 after successfully trading away their veterans who were on short-term deals and replacing them with draft capital.
HoopsHype recapped the future first-round draft picks Oklahoma City received, a list that excluded the Los Angeles Lakers first-round pick that the organization used to trade up and get Aleksej Pokusevski.
“The Thunder ended up getting four first-round picks from all of their dealing this offseason, one from the Phoenix Suns (top-12 protected for 2022), one from the Nuggets (top-14 protected in 2023), one from the Philadelphia 76ers (top-six protected in 2025) and one from Golden State (top-20 protected in 2021), which the team can now use themselves or package together if another star player eventually becomes up for grabs on the trade market.”
Oklahoma City now has at least one draft pick from a different team in every year through 2027.
The Thunder ranked higher than the team on the other side of their most high-profile trade this offseason.
The Phoenix Suns, who traded for Chris Paul, ended up at No. 6 on the ranking. They were given an A- while Oklahoma City got an A.
HoopsHype called the trade Phoenix’s best move of the offseason. Nevertheless, the Thunder’s drive toward the future impressed the site more, particularly because they’re doing it in a good year. They now have a chance to draft a prospect like Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green or Evan Mobley.
“Oklahoma City got much worse as a team this offseason, but that was the plan – a smart one, too, considering they’re about to potentially bottom out on a year with a much-hyped 2021 draft class awaiting them – and as such, we have no choice but to rank their offseason this highly.”
[lawrence-related id=439843,439748,439739]