The Thunder continue to stockpile draft assets in an astonishing manner. In the team’s latest trade, Oklahoma City reportedly dealt Patty Mills to the Hawks in exchange for TyTy Washington Jr., Usman Garuba, Rudy Gay and a future-second round pick.
The move raises the Thunder’s draft arsenal to a total of 35 picks over the next seven years—and 15 of them are first-rounders. Just last week, the Thunder acquired Mills from the Rockets.
Oklahoma City was able to accumulate many of those picks from the trades of Russell Westbrook and Paul George. The Thunder received four first-round picks from the Rockets for Westbrook and five first-round picks from the Clippers for George in 2019.
The team has proven it can draft well, with guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was selected with the No. 11 pick in the 2018 NBA draft, developing into a first-team All-NBA selection.
With the franchise in full rebuild mode, it’ll have more than enough opportunities to strike gold again in the future.
