Team needs: Central depth, rebounding, talent consolidation
THE Oklahoma City Thunder made a huge leap forward in the 2023-24 season, securing first place in the West and advancing to the conference semifinals, where they stumbled against the Dallas MavericksShai Gilgeous-Alexander has emerged as an MVP candidate, Jalen Williams has emerged as one of the league’s best young two-way forwards and Chet Holmgren has impressed in his redshirt rookie season.
The challenge for the Thunder now is to go from a very good team to a great team and build a playoff-ready roster around this trio. first step in the right direction by trading Josh Giddey, who struggled in the playoffs, for Alex Caruso, but there are still areas for improvement. The question for OKC is how they fill those holes, as they have cap space, a ton of future picks and some young players that other teams will be interested in and that they could look to shore up for more immediate help.
With the 12th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Thunder had the option to add new young talent to their roster or make a more aggressive move in a trade to bring in veterans. With the top big men already out of the picture and no trade coming to fruition, the Thunder opted to take a long-term gamble at the 12th pick by taking Nikola Topic. They then traded up in the first round, sending five second-round picks to New York for the 26th pick to take Dillon Jones.
Nikola Topic (No. 12 overall), A-: Nothing could be more Thunder than this. Topic is coming off a serious knee injury and he may not be available for much of the 2024-25 season. However, Topic received some real top-5 buzz earlier in the cycle and is a big back who can play off the ball and pass. His fit with OKC’s current roster may be a bit awkward, but Sam Presti is simply taking his guys. Topic was perhaps the best talent available.
Dillon Jones (No. 26 overall), B-: Jones has played for four years and will turn 23 in October. He has an interesting skill set. Jones was an incredible rebounder in college despite his modest size. He has a 6-foot-3 wingspan that helps offset his below-average athleticism. He can also create his own shot, and while his production has come at an average college level, Jones knows how to play.
