The Oklahoma City Thunder are the best team in basketball. Groundbreaking stuff, I know.
But beyond having easily the best record in the NBA and being so dominant on a nightly basis that they have been able to rest reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in fourth quarters, the reigning champions could be even better by the end of next year’s draft.
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That’s not how it is supposed to work. But the Thunder, who finished last season with a 68-14 record and look on track to improve that with a 17-1 start to their 2025-26 campaign, could have up to four first-round picks in 2026.
The most lucrative of the lot, from the Clippers, has the entire NBA on notice.
You see, Oklahoma City is still owed L.A.’s unprotected 2026 first-round pick from the Paul George trade in 2019.
That’s right, what has already gone down as one of the worst trades in NBA history could be about to get even worse.
Now, no one is blaming the Clippers for making the trade. After all, if they didn’t make it there would be no Kawhi Leonard, who made it clear he would only make the switch to L.A. if George was coming with him.
But the trade, which saw the Clippers send now reigning MVP and unanimous top-five NBA talent Gilgeous-Alexander along with Danilo Gallinari, four first-round picks and two pick swaps continues to be harder to stomach with every year that passes.
The Thunder ended up drafting Tre Mann, Jalen Williams, Dillon Jones and Thomas Sorber with those picks and while it will be hard to top Williams, who made his first All-Star team last year, this 2026 draft could give the Thunder a rare chance to do just that.
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, BYU wing AJ Dybantsa and Duke forward Cameron Boozer are the three big names separating themselves in this year’s class. But just how good are they?
Well, The Athletic’s NBA draft expert Sam Vecenie wrote earlier this month that all three “currently project for me as prospects in the same tier as Cooper Flagg was”.
“Which is saying a lot,” Vecenie added, “and will likely lead to rather robust tanking down the stretch of the NBA season”.
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The Clippers, however, won’t be one of those teams or, at least, any potential moves to tear it down will solely hinge on what sort of offers they receive with no incentive otherwise to gut their roster in a bid to secure a higher draft pick.
It will be Oklahoma City, instead, who benefit and with injuries already testing the depth of an ageing Clippers roster, it is starting to look increasingly likely that L.A.’s pick could fall inside the lottery.
“It’s just absolutely crazy,” NBA personality Kevin O’Connor said on his podcast.
What’s more, the Thunder could actually end up with as many as four first-round picks in next year’s draft. L.A.’s unprotected pick is the most valuable, but they also acquired a top-four protected pick from Philadelphia in 2020.
If it doesn’t convey in 2026 or 2027, Philadelphia will owe OKC its 2027 second-round pick. But with the Sixers being 9-7 so far this season, it seems more likely that the pick will convey unless injuries hit Philadelphia.
Oklahoma City also acquired a top-eight protected pick from Utah in 2026, although in a very competitive Western Conference the Jazz are more likely to tank in a bid to keep that pick.
Either way, it is looking like the Thunder should have at least three picks, with the reigning champions also to receive the most favourable pick between Houston (top-four protected) and its own pick.
For a team that with the shortest title odds entering the season since the powerhouse Golden State Warriors in 2017-18, it is hardly like the Thunder need any extra help — especially when you consider they have won 17 of their first 18 games without their second best player.
But the reality is that even if the Clippers pass a few more vulnerable teams like Utah, Memphis and Phoenix in the standings in the Western Conference, it is hard to see them being much more than a play-in team and the ageing core of this roster only makes it more susceptible to falling apart.
The Clippers could be in trouble. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The Clippers could be in trouble. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Leonard already missed 10 games through injury and has never been the picture of health later in his career, while James Harden carried a heavy load in his absence.
Any injuries to either Leonard or Harden could doom L.A.’s season and would fall right into Oklahoma City’s hands, while setting up the potential for a draft-day scenario which ESPN’s Tim Bontemps said would result in the NBA world “melting down”.
“The Clippers, at least in theory, should be able to get into the play-in and maybe potentially mitigate some of the embarrassment of that pick,” Bontemps said on ‘The Hoops Collective’ podcast.
“But if James Harden gets hurt at all or Kawhi is out of the line-up more, it might not matter. I tweeted it the other day in the middle of one of these games, I’m just waiting for the internet to break in May when we get to the draft lottery and the Thunder wind up with Darryn Peterson or AJ Dybantsa or Cameron Boozer or one of these guys with this Clippers pick and the world just melts down.”
Of course, even if the Thunder don’t end up stumbling their way into a top-three pick in this year’s draft, it is not like any rival front office in the NBA wants to see Oklahoma City with even a top-10 selection.
After all, it is important to remember this is the same team that struck gold with Jalen Williams at 12th overall while Cason Wallace (No.12) and Ajay Mitchell (No.38) are starting to emerge as handy role players.
Meanwhile, both of Oklahoma City’s most recent top picks Nikola Topić (No.12) and Thomas Sorber (No.15) haven’t been able to get on the court but are also expected to only make the defending champions even stronger.
Add in the fact the Thunder have 13 future first-round picks, including all seven of their own, and the rest of the NBA will be holding their breath any time Leonard or Harden goes down.
“They’re (the Clippers) screwing over more than just their own fan base and their own team. They’re actually playing with the future of the rest of the NBA,” Justin Termine, host of NBA Today on SiriusXM NBA Radio, said on ‘The Kevin O’Connor Show’.
“Denver can’t win a championship as good as they are. The Knicks, the Cavaliers (can’t win the championship) ... if they’re going to hand OKC the first or second overall pick in this draft.”