How Thunder Launched Themselves from Rebuilder to Contender with an Incredible 2022 Draft Night

The evening of the 2022 NBA Draft stands out as a crucial moment that helped accelerate the Oklahoma City Thunder`s progression from a team frequently in the draft lottery to an NBA Finals participant in less than three years. It`s widely recognized as one of the most unpredictable draft nights in the league`s history.

Holding the top pick, the Orlando Magic were widely expected to select Jabari Smith Jr., especially since Smith had only worked out for two teams pre-draft: Orlando and Oklahoma City. However, the Magic surprised everyone by taking Paolo Banchero first overall. Oklahoma City, holding the second pick, then decided against drafting Smith and instead selected Chet Holmgren.

Despite not having worked out for them before the draft, Houston didn`t let Smith fall past the third pick. Looking back, both the Magic and the Thunder made the correct choices, regardless of the uncertainty leading up to the draft selections.

At that point, Oklahoma City was committed to drafting Holmgren, irrespective of which other prospects were available. The Thunder also possessed the 12th pick in the draft, a selection acquired as part of the major trade that sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, a deal primarily centered around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joining Oklahoma City. Before using their 12th pick, the Thunder made a trade with the New York Knicks for the 11th selection, using it to draft Ousmane Dieng, who has not yet made a significant impact in his three NBA seasons.

However, at pick No. 12 (which they still technically held after the trade for 11), Oklahoma City focused on Jalen Williams, a standout player from Santa Clara, a mid-major program. Williams was considered a significant riser during the pre-draft period, although most projections placed his likely draft range in the late teens or early twenties. Yet, just as with the Holmgren pick at No. 2, the availability of other players didn`t sway the Thunder. Trusting their player evaluation process, Oklahoma City drafted Williams in the lottery.

This decision proved highly rewarding.

Teams that have selected multiple players in the lottery within the last 15 years are few. A notable instance is the 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers, who drafted Kyrie Irving at No. 1 and Tristan Thompson at No. 4. While the success rate for lottery picks is generally high, the probability of landing two franchise cornerstones from the same draft class, as Oklahoma City appears to have done, is exceptionally rare.

Below is a list of teams with multiple lottery selections in the same draft since 2010:

Jalen Williams notably became the first player from the highly-touted 2022 draft class to receive All-NBA honors. Chet Holmgren was limited to just 39 games in a recent season due to a right iliac wing fracture; otherwise, he would likely have been an All-Star. Because he didn`t meet the requirement of playing 65 games, Holmgren was ineligible for most major end-of-season awards.

The selections of Holmgren and Williams appear to be resounding successes. Both players will be eligible for contract extensions this upcoming summer. Despite the new complexities introduced by the updated Collective Bargaining Agreement, it seems highly probable that the Thunder will secure both Holmgren and Williams with long-term deals. Furthermore, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is eligible for a five-year contract extension worth $380 million with Oklahoma City, following his MVP caliber season and earning All-NBA honors for the third consecutive year.

These three players form the cornerstone of a team that has already won 80 games and continues to accumulate victories. Only 15 teams in NBA history have reached the 80-win mark (combining regular season and playoff games). Should Oklahoma City claim the championship, they would become just the fourth team in NBA history to win 84 games, joining the ranks of the Warriors (2015-16) and the Bulls (1995-96 and 1996-97).

Oklahoma City is now on the verge of potentially winning an NBA title. The trade with the Clippers, which brought Gilgeous-Alexander to the team, remains a frequent topic of discussion, and rightly so. However, the 2022 draft significantly cemented the franchise`s path towards becoming a contender. Although they might not have fully realized it at the time, the draft yield of Holmgren and Williams was, quite literally, transformative for the franchise.