Team Needs: Center depth, Rebounding, Talent Consolidation
The Oklahoma City Thunder took a huge leap in the 2023-24 season, earning the 1-seed in the West and making it to the conference semifinals, where they stumbled against the Dallas Mavericks. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became an MVP candidate, Jalen Williams emerged as one of the league’s best young two-way wings, and Chet Holmgren impressed in his redshirt rookie season.
Now the challenge for the Thunder is going from a really good team to a great team and building a roster that’s playoff ready around that trio. They took an early step in the right direction by flipping Josh Giddey, who struggled in the playoffs, for Alex Caruso, but there are still things to improve upon. The question for OKC is how they go about filling those holes, as they have cap space, a ton of future picks, and some young players that other teams will be interested in that they might be looking to consolidate into more immediate help.
With the 12th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Thunder had a chance to add some more young talent to their roster, or make a more aggressive move in a trade to bring in some veteran help. With the top big men already off the board and no trades materializing, the Thunder opted to make a long-term play at No. 12 by taking Nikola Topic. They then traded back into the first round, sending five second rounders to New York for the No. 26 pick to take Dillon Jones.
Nikola Topic (No. 12 Overall), A-: Nothing could be more Thunder than this. Topic is coming back from a significant knee injury, and he may not be available for much of the 2024-25 season. However, Topic received real top-five buzz earlier in the cycle, and he is a big guard with the ability to play on the ball and pass. His fit with OKC’s current roster might be a bit clunky, but Sam Presti simply takes his guys. Topic may have been the best talent available.
Dillon Jones (No. 26 Overall), B-: Jones was a four-year player who will be 23 in October, and he has an interesting skill set. Jones was an incredible rebounder at the college level despite modest height, and he has a 6’11 wingspan that helps to neutralize his below-average athleticism. He can create his own shot as well, and while his production happened at a mid-major in college, Jones just knows how to play.
