Oklahoma City Thunder Prospect Rankings: Post 2021 NBA Draft
Oklahoma City is loaded with prospects, especially after taking four more in the 2021 NBA Draft.
This ranking is based on a combination of upside, floor and the perceived likelihood that a player will be able to reach their ceiling.
These rankings are fluid, and will be updated with some regularity. I’m planning to make another update following Summer League and potentially update them monthly throughout the regular season.
Arbitrary rules for inclusion: Players must be on their rookie contracts or under the age of 25. That’s why Lu Dort is on this list and Kenrich Williams is not.
Without further adieu, here’s how I see things right now:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Oklahoma City’s only superstar. He’s in a tier of his own on this list. He’s entering the last year of his rookie deal, so he’ll be graduated from this list a year from now.
- Lu Dort
Dort’s ceiling is lower than a couple other prospects behind him, but he’s a proven worker and has shown tremendous growth so far in his career. He’s already an All-NBA caliber defensive player and was a good enough 3-point shooter at volume in Year 2. Whatever his ceiling might be, I’m confident he’ll reach it.
- Josh Giddey
The biggest addition to this group, Josh Giddey should have a chance to play a lot for OKC early on. His ability to read the floor makes his teammates better. Giddey’s shooting also improved greatly throughout the course of his season in the NBL. If he shoots it, watch out.
- Aleksej Pokusevski
If this were a pure ceiling ranking, Poku would be No. 2 on my list. He showed a lot of promise last year, and no one else in the NBA has his skillset. There’s still a long way to go, though, so he slips to No. 4.
- Tre Mann
Calling my shot a bit here, but I think Tre Mann will end up being better than Ty Jerome and Theo Maledon (two players I’m also high on). The Thunder haven’t had many players with his lethal pull-up shooting game in their history. I expect him to primarily play backup shooting guard but could run point in some lineups as well.
- Ty Jerome
Ty Jerome established himself as a quality rotation player last year, making 42.3 percent of his 3-pointers. He looks like he’ll have a long career as a solid role player.
- Theo Maledon
Maledon’s rookie season was up-and-down, but he was consistent as he led the team in minutes played. I do think there’s some starter upside here but he’ll need to shoot it better than 36.8 percent from the floor.
- Darius Bazley
Bazely had a disappointing sophomore campaign with the Thunder. It’s certainly not time to give up, but he struggled enough that it made me question what his role will be on a good NBA team. He finished last season strong by getting to the foul line a ton, but needs to keep that up.
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Robinson-Earl is a bit of an unknown heading into the year. I expect he’ll get some minutes at center and power forward. He became a darling of draft Twitter toward the end of the pre-draft process, so I’m cautiously optimistic.
- Isaiah Roby
Roby was decent last year, but there’s just not a ton of upside here. He can stretch the floor as OKC’s center, though, and that is a plus.
- Aaron Wiggins
Wiggins had a solid career at Maryland before being taken No. 55 overall. I expect him to spend most — if not all — of this season with the OKC Blue.
- Josh Hall
Similar to Wiggins, I think we’ll see Hall mostly for the Blue this season. Still some upside here, but he needs to show it at Summer League.
