NBA Rumors: 3 Bold predictions for Oklahoma City Thunder's 2021 offseason
The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to take their rebuild up a notch this offseason and several NBA rumors have already hinted at the direction the franchise might take. They have a plethora of draft picks – six of them this year – and tons of cap space to start adding valuable players.
The task at hand for the Oklahoma City Thunder is to grow their main core of young players and add complementary pieces around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. At the same time, they need to extract maximum value out of the few veterans that are still on their roster and don't necessarily fall within their rebuilding timeline.
The Thunder aren't expected to compete for a playoff spot in the upcoming season either, but the focus has to be on improving the current roster without losing sight of long-term goals. This would mean undertaking some gambles in the 2021 NBA Draft and the open market.
On that note, let's look at three bold predictions for the Oklahoma City Thunder's offseason.
#1 Oklahoma City Thunder will find a way to move into the top four of the 2021 NBA Draft
The Oklahoma City Thunder had the fourth-best odds in the draft lottery but finished with just the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. That puts the likes of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs – the four highly-touted prospects in this class – out of their reach.
The Oklahoma City Thunder know they need to add potential franchise cornerstones to their squad in this draft. They're unlikely to be this high in the draft again. They had to shut down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and lose 23 of their last 25 games in the 2020-21 season to be here. That won't happen each season.
The Thunder also have 18 first-round and 18 second-round picks in the next seven years. They even have roughly $37 million in projected cap space. This is exactly why GM Sam Presti has accumulated all these picks – to consolidate them and make offers that other franchises can't refuse. This is the perfect time for the OKC to use their war chest of assets and trade up into the top four picks of the draft.
The Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets are pretty untouchable at this point. But the Oklahoma City Thunder have been seriously linked to Evan Mobley and they have the assets to get a deal done with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who own the third pick.
The Thunder have enough to make a compelling offer to the Toronto Raptors, too, for their No.4 pick. Expect one of these two franchises to budge.