Oklahoma City will once again have a pile of draft picks next offseason and now has a better idea of where those picks will end up.
The NBA released the 2024-25 schedule on Thursday, and the Thunder now know not only their own schedule but also the schedules of each team they are set to give their picks to next year. With the Thunder's trades during the rebuild, general manager Sam Presti could own up to four first-round draft picks next season and compete for five other teams' draft picks.
The Thunder are in a position to potentially receive 2025 first-round picks from the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers due to trades made over the past few years. The Thunder can trade for the Clippers or Rockets' first-round-protected picks No. 1-10, but the other three teams would have to give them away based on their protections.
The Clippers' situation will be the most notable for the Thunder because they hold the only unprotected pick, and with Paul George and Russell Westbrook gone, the team will turn to Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, who have had plenty of injury concerns in recent years.
That, combined with a league-leading 16 straight games and a 13-game rest deficit, could put Oklahoma City in a tough spot. Meanwhile, Houston may be more likely to pass on paper, but with a top-10 pick secured, Oklahoma City's best bet is a Rockets play-in berth.
Paul George's free agency helped improve one pick, but they may secure another late in the first round. The Thunder have Philadelphia's pick in the top six next season. Barring injuries, the 76ers' pick is unlikely to be affected by their middling ranking with rest and back-to-back games.
Perhaps the pick least likely to be handed over is Utah's top-10 protected pick. As the Jazz continue to rebuild, they seem unlikely to join the play-in race and fall out of the top 10, but that pick could be impacted if the Thunder do so.
While unlikely, Oklahoma City could be in position to compete for Utah's pick because the teams would meet in Game 81. If the Thunder's seeding is determined and the Jazz are on the brink of retaining the pick, we could see a showdown.
Despite a number of other possibilities, Miami seems like a surefire place for the Thunder to get a good pick. Miami has hovered around the play-in spots in the Eastern Conference for the past few years, and their pick is lottery protected in 2025. But if Miami narrowly misses the playoffs, that pick would carry over as an unprotected pick in 2026.
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