How have the Oklahoma City Thunder done when selecting 21st in previous NBA Drafts?
The Oklahoma City Thunder need to find a way to add some talent around Russell Westbrook this season. Watching Westbrook record triple-doubles night in and night out is fun, but he needs help. Replacing Kevin Durant isn’t an easy task, but the Thunder will attempt to do it for a second offseason.
The Thunder will have trouble adding talent in free agency. They already have almost $113 million on the books for the 2017-18 season, and that is without Taj Gibson and Andre Roberson, who are both free agents. The contract extensions for Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams kick in this upcoming season. Enes Kanter is only halfway through his deal, and Westbrook’s extension begins as well.
Signing veterans to help will be difficult for the Thunder even with the salary cap rising. They will have to get creative to open up cap space to even retain their own free agents. The best chance the Thunder have at adding talent to their roster for the 2017-18 season is via the NBA Draft.
The Thunder own the 21st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Finding a difference-maker this late in the draft is unlikely, and Oklahoma City knows this firsthand.
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This will be the third time since 2010 that the Thunder are selecting 21st and the fourth time overall. In the previous three instances the Thunder selected 21st, the results weren’t great.
In 2015 the Thunder selected Michigan power forward Mitch McGary. McGary had tons of upside and looked like he could develop into a useful bench piece for the Thunder, but he would never come close to reaching his potential.
McGary did himself no favors. He entered the NBA after his junior season to avoid a season-long suspension for a positive marijuana test. He was suspended in July 2016 for violating the league’s anti-drug program. He was handed another suspension just two months later once again for the anti-drug program.
McGary would be waived by the Thunder after the preseason, playing only 52 games with the team. That is actually more than the Thunder got out of their other 21st pick in the lottery era, Craig Brackins.
OKC selected Brackins out of Iowa State in 2010. He played in only 17 games in the NBA, but would never take the court for the Thunder. He was traded along with the 26th pick, Quincy Pondexter, to the New Orleans Hornets for Cole Aldrich, who was the 12 pick, and Morris Peterson.
Oklahoma City had a third first round draft pick in the 2010 draft. They also selected 18th and picked Eric Bledsoe. He never took the court for the Thunder either, as he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for a 2012 first round pick.
The final No. 21 pick the Thunder made came back in 1975. Bruce Seals was the third pick of the second round that year, the 21st overall. He played only three seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics, averaging 10.3 points per game.
According to Basketball-Reference, the two players the Thunder selected at No. 21 were two of the worst players ever selected in that slot. Out of 40 No. 21 selections, McGary was 30th in win shares and Brackins was 37th. While their own draft history doesn’t instill much confidence, there have been some great players selected with the 21st overall pick.
The best of the bunch, by far according to win shares, was Michael Finley. Finley was selected by the Phoenix Suns in 1995 but came into his own with the Dallas Mavericks. He won a title with the San Antonio Spurs in the 2006-07 season and was named to two All-Star teams.
Finley is far from the only productive player to be selected 21st overall. Rajon Rondo and Boris Diaw have been productive in their NBA careers and are NBA champions. Jeff Foster, Jon Barry, Ryan Anderson, and Morris Peterson were also selected 21st overall.
Solid bench players such as Darren Collison, Ricky Davis, and Nate Robinson were selected as well. Most recently, Gorgui Dieng was selected in this slot, as well as Jared Sullinger.
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The Thunder have a good chance at landing a useful rotation player in this slot. Fourteen players selected 21st overall played at least 10 seasons in the NBA, while Collison and Anderson are both knocking on the door for a decade in the NBA. If the Thunder can be patient with this selection, it has a good chance of developing into a rotation player.