The NBA Draft is over and it’s certainly been an eventful time for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He made three selections over the two nights of the draft, taking Nikola Topic with the No. 12 pick, Dillon Jones with the No. 26 pick and Ajay Mitchell with the No. 38 pick.
Oklahoma City is at a point where it is focused on making the NBA Finals, which is much sooner than it hoped a year ago. Getting winning players through the draft — especially one who is projected lower than usual — is tough to do, but it has done the best it can.
Even though the Thunder are long past the rebuilding phase, they are still one of the youngest teams in the league, and their timeline to win a championship could extend into the end of the decade or beyond.
The project is a great way to keep that calendar fresh, something Oklahoma City has certainly accomplished.
Topic’s pick was a bold one given his injury risks and his absence next season, but he’s the definition of a long-term player the Thunder can use to maintain their success. He’s only 18 years old, and a year on the sidelines to learn the system and get comfortable with an NBA team could be beneficial to his career. It may take some time, but he could be an impactful player for many years to come.
Jones is a player who could have more impact now. He’s already 22 and coming out of Weber State, where he’s dominating the Big Sky Conference. He could end up as a guard or a power forward, with plenty of defensive potential. He’s a great rebounder even at 6’4″ (9.8 average last season), which is something Oklahoma City is definitely looking for.
Mitchell is another guard, but a smart second-round pick. He showed off a productive and efficient offense in Santa Barbara, both at the rim and behind the arc. It’s hard to say what kind of role he’ll have going forward — a two-way role seems the most likely outcome — but at the position, there wasn’t much more you could ask for.
The Thunder need an upgrade at backup center who could add a higher level of rebounding, but that just wasn’t going to happen in the draft. Free agency is where that will be fixed, especially if they can land New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein.
This year’s draft was all about drafting players with potential who would fit into Oklahoma City’s scheme, and she did that with ease. She knows how she wants to play and which players will bring to the table, even if they aren’t direct answers to the questions of the moment.
It may be a “weak” class, but the Thunder made the most of it.
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