How the Thunder Could Hit on a Second Round Pick

The Oklahoma City Thunder have had some success hitting on their second round picks in recent years. Those being Aaron Wiggins, who is a winning player that made consistently big impacts across this season, and was pick No. 55 in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was an early second round pick, and when given the opportunity, he showed promise in the Thunder’s system.

Though it took injuries and trials, Jaylin Williams, the Thunder’s most recent second round pick, cracked both the rotation and the starting lineup to set himself up for success and establish a role with the Thunder moving forward.

What makes these second round picks a success or a hit, though?

First things first, most second round picks are made with low expectations and high upside. The upside could be in terms of raw talent in dire need of development, or a more skilled guy needing a perfect fit to make role playing contributions to. If a second round pick is able to crack a rotation and carve out a role in the NBA in their first few seasons, said pick is a success. Obviously, finding a star in the second round would be huge and incredible, but the second round picks rarely get the opportunity to show that type of skill or develop into that type of player.

With the current state of the Thunder, an up-and-coming rebuilding team that’s on the horizon of competing, hitting on a second round pick looks plenty different. They’ve got their super star, he’s got his supporting cast in the starting lineup and there’s not much more room for rotational pieces to get brought in.

Assuming the Thunder don’t hit on pick No. 12, their first pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, they’ll have two chances with pick No. 37 and pick No. 50 to bring in a potential rotational piece that provides depth throughout the long regular season.

If the Thunder use the second round to find two guys that would both thrive in the Thunder’s play-style and system, while also having enough skill early on to put it to use, they’ll be putting themselves in a prime position to get some solid production from their rookies. This is where leaning towards a slightly older rookie doesn’t absolutely hurt, and may be even more beneficial in the second round, as a young, explosive scorer that needs plenty of development might not be able to pan out for the Thunder.

OKC will be targeting "Thunder guys," which is essentially multidimensional players that have a solid feel for the game and make consistent, good decisions.