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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.
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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.
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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.
#2 Oklahoma City Thunder won't draft James Bouknight
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been largely linked to James Bouknight as their main target with their sixth pick. The UConn Huskies sophomore has impressed several scouts with his athleticism. Bouknight would also be a good fit alongside Gilgeous-Alexander thanks to his silky handles and shot-creating ability.
As an extension from the previous point, the Thunder will find it extremely difficult to move up the draft without parting with the sixth pick. They could find a way to swap their #16 and #18 picks for one in the early teens, but Bouknight is unlikely to be available by then.
The Golden State Warriors are extremely interested in Bouknight as well. Unless the Thunder find a way to move up the draft and either retain their sixth pick or acquire Golden State's seventh pick, James Bouknight will likely be starting his NBA career with a different team.
#3 Oklahoma City Thunder will be unable to trade Kemba Walker before the start of the new season
The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Kemba Walker's huge contract worth roughly $74 million over the next two seasons in exchange for Al Horford and Moses Brown. It also netted the Thunder the 16th pick in this year's draft.
OKC would certainly want to flip Walker for additional assets, just like they did with Horford and Chris Paul prior to that. Some reports have stated that the team is hopeful of trading Kemba before the start of next season, but that's unlikely to happen.
Kemba Walker found some form towards the end of last season, but he's made a habit of being unavailable for early portions of a campaign due to injuries. Unless he can stay fit and prove that he's the same scoring machine that the Boston Celtics had hoped him to be, other teams are going to stay away.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are also more likely to extract additional assets for Kemba Walker if he's able to start the 2021-22 season well. Until then, Walker's contract is still too huge for someone to take on and part with draft picks or young players at the same time.
Also read: 3 Biggest needs Oklahoma City Thunder must address in the 2021 NBA offseason
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