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It Happened!
After months of waiting on the draft to happen - it happened. After weeks of knowing who they would take at the top of the draft - it didn't happen.
The Thunder have known who they could pick from since trading De'Aaron Fox for Caris LeVert and this pick weeks ago... They knew straight-away that they needed a center and that James Wiseman would be there waiting for them at #1.
The issue is that they had picks 1 and 4 and four players that they liked in the top ~8. Despite a furious attempt to trade up to #3 and snatch James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball, they remained at 1 and 4. The problem, is their obvious pick at 4 was also a center - and with Edwards and Wiseman so close on their draft board... they decided to lean to Anthony Edwards at the last minute so that they could accommodate Onyeka Okongwu, instead of settling for a less desirable pick. It takes a very odd situation to base your 1st overall pick on a later pick - but with the front office's stalemate over Edwards vs Wiseman and their confidence in Okongwu over the 10 or so guys closely grouped behind him - the choice became obviously in the hours leading up to the draft.
So now the team has landed defensive-oriented big to pair with any of their 3 offensive-minded power forwards - essentially what they hoped Wiseman would be. But they also landed the guy they felt had the most star-power in the draft in Anthony Edwards. If there is one guy out of this draft that seems most likely to lead an NSL team to a title, it is Edwards - and this Thunder team needs that.
Not only did the Thunder have two top 5 picks, they also had to play off of who would end up at 9. For a long time, it seemed like they would either be able to trade into getting Ball or taking Haliburton or Hayes at 9. When a Ball trade didn't materialize, Hayes was taken early and Haliburton didn't grade out as expected - they quickly shifted into taking the best player available. Isaac Okoro evaluates as the best perimeter defender in this draft class and will be able to compliment an offense-oriented cast of other forwards and guards.
Wrapping up the night, the Thunder were thrilled to end up with a point guard that has first-round talent at 38. Payton Pritchard won't come in with quite the expectations of the other 3 rookies - but if he can snag some minutes backing up Devonte Graham at point guard, it will be a win. He was the team's top guy at 38 by far - getting somebody that can lead, make shots and not be afraid of the big moments on a 4 year deal 8 picks into the second round is a huge boost to this already exciting class.
The questions with these guys are obvious - will Edwards develop into a star? Will Okongwu be a starting big? Will Okoro develop a shot? Will Pritchard find a place in the league? The team put a lot of their future into this "down" draft class. But if the answers are yes, they'll be in an great place
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