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The Oklahoma City Thunder have been stockpiling draft picks for years. Their unprecedented rebuilding efforts have led to them constructing arguably the best roster in the NBA.
The Thunder led the league with 68 wins in 2024-25, and they are currently playing in the NBA Finals. The team is well set up for the future, too. Whether they win or lose the championship, they still have a surplus of future draft capital.
Some recent draft day hits include the selections of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. They also drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka within a three-year time span.
The team hasn't always been so lucky when it comes to the NBA Draft, though. The Thunder had some misses during the early days of their rebuild, and they made some draft-day mistakes when they were the Seattle SuperSonics. So check out the gallery to see the worst decisions and draft busts in Thunder/SuperSonics history.
10. Robert Swift – 2004
Robert Swift was drafted 12th overall in 2004. He hardly saw the floor as a rookie, but he started to show some promise in year two. The center, who was drafted straight out of high school, was lined up to start in his third season, but he tore his ACL just one minute into the first preseason game of the year. Swift's knees never recovered, and he was out of the league after four seasons.
9. Danny Vranes – 1981
Danny Vranes, the fifth overall pick in 1981, was drafted because of his defensive talent. While he did perform well on that end, his offense never developed as expected, leading to an underwhelming career for the SuperSonics. His offensive limitations prevented him from ever earning a big role with his team.
8. Lucius Allen – 1969
The SuperSonics became a team in 1967. They struggled during their first few years of existence, especially when it came to drafting talent near the top of the draft and developing youngsters into NBA players. Lucius Allen was an example of the latter organizational flaw. Allen was a double-digit scorer for most of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers, but the Sonics gave up on him after just one underwhelming season with the team.
7. Bob Kauffman – 1968
The SuperSonics had the third overall pick the year prior to drafting Allen as well. In 1968, they drafted Bob Kauffman. Like Allen, Seattle gave up on their prized possession after just one season. Kauffman ranks higher here because his 7.8 points per game in his lone season as a Sonic were worse than Allen's 9.8.
6. Alperen Sengun – 2021
The Thunder have had multiple first-round picks in most drafts over the last half-decade. In 2021, they went into draft day with three first-rounders.
They held on to the selections that netted Josh Giddey and Tre Mann, but they decided to trade Alperen Sengun after selecting him. Giddey and Mann are no longer with the team, while Sengun has become an All-Star for the Houston Rockets.
Hindsight has proven the decision to be a drastic mistake, but it was even perplexing at the time because Oklahoma City desperately needed a center in 2021. The draft day trade netted the Thunder two heavily protected future first-round picks, one from the Detroit Pistons and the other from the Washington Wizards.
The Thunder eventually traded both of those picks for the right to draft Ousmane Dieng in 2022. Dieng has struggled to find court time since being added to Oklahoma City's young core, and he may soon find his way off of the Thunder's roster.
5. Mitch McGary – 2014
Despite an underwhelming sophomore campaign at Michigan that led to his draft stock falling, the Thunder took Mitch McGary 21st overall in 2014. McGary's professional career took a hit before it could get going as he broke his foot during the training camp of his rookie season. McGary would also eventually be suspended for failing a drug test, which was a concern teams had before he was drafted. The Michigan product only lasted 52 games over two seasons with the Thunder before the team waived him.
4. Josh Huestis – 2014
McGary wasn't Oklahoma City's only first-round mistake in 2014. They also drafted Josh Heists eight picks later. He only played a few games more (76 games played) than his classmate. Huestis ranks as a worse draft decision, though, because the Thunder didn't give him a transitional rookie-scale contract after he was drafted.
Instead, Huestis played for Oklahoma City's G-League affiliate for a year before coming up to the big leagues. It was an unprecedented decision that hasn't really been used by any team across the league with first-round picks since.
3. Mouhamed Sene – 2006
Harden was the third pick in 2009. Westbrook was taken fourth overall in 2008, and Durant became arguably the best second-overall pick ever after he was drafted in 2007. The latter of those selections was made while the team still played in Seattle. In 2006, the SuperSonics didn't evaluate quite as well as they would in years to come.
Mouhamed Sene was picked 10th that year, and he'd only score 100 points over 2½ seasons with the team. The Senegalese 7-footer was raw, and he never was able to develop into an NBA-caliber player. Had the team drafted another core member in 2006, they may have won the championship that they lost in five games in 2012.
2. Cole Aldrich – 2010
Cole Aldrich won a championship in college with Kansas. His collegiate career included a triple-double with blocks, and the Thunder took him 11th overall after he declared for the draft. While the Thunder did get to the NBA Finals with Aldrich on the roster, the big man was not productive during his time with the team. Aldrich scored just 75 points in total during his Thunder tenure.
1. Scottie Pippen – 1987
Scottie Pippen won six championships on the best dynasty in NBA history. He made six All-Star Games as one of the original point forwards and established himself as one of the greatest defensive players ever. He did none of that with the SuperSonics team that drafted him fifth overall in 1987, though.
The SuperSonics used the Pippen pick to move back in the draft, with the main piece they came away with being Olden Polynice. The center was drafted eighth overall and was limited to reserve duty in four years with the Sonics.
