The Oklahoma City Thunder received the sixth pick in the NBA draft lottery, dropping two spots after finishing tied for the fourth-worst record in the league.
The Houston Rockets did not fall to No. 5, so the Thunder will have the No. 6 pick, the No. 16 pick via the Boston Celtics and the No. 18 pick via the Miami Heat.
This has been widely viewed as a five-man draft class, with Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga all seen with All-Star potential.
That puts the Thunder in position to draft a player like Davion Mitchell, Scottie Barnes or Keon Johnson, unless one of the perceived top five players remain available at No. 6.
Oklahoma City could trade up as well. The team has six picks in the draft as of Tuesday, giving them tools at their disposal to move up if they are inclined and find a willing trade partner.
The Thunder have not had a top-10 pick since 2009, when they selected James Harden with the third pick overall.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, who tied the Thunder for the fourth-worst record in the league but lost the coin flip for the fourth-best odds, ended up with the No. 3 pick.
Here are all six Thunder selections, as of Tuesday:
- No. 6
- No. 16 (via Celtics)
- No. 18 (via Heat)
- No. 35
- No. 36 (via Minnesota Timberwolves)
- No. 55 (via Denver Nuggets)
Here is the full draft order:
- Detroit Pistons
- Houston Rockets
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Toronto Raptors
- Orlando Magic
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Golden State Warriors (via Timberwolves)
- Orlando Magic (via Chicago Bulls)
- Sacramento Kings
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Charlotte Hornets
- San Antonio Spurs
- Indiana Pacers
- Golden State Warriors
