As the date of the 2022 NBA Draft gets closer, teams that have been tanking this season are starting to have an eye towards the ping pong balls. One of these teams is the Oklahoma City Thunder. After trading away a ton of their players, the Thunder have their own pick, the Clippers pick, and the Suns pick. While the Suns pick will likely be around the end of the first round, they still have the two lottery picks. With those two opportunities to pick some great prospects, let's look at three early 2022 NBA Draft targets Thunder must be watching.
Early Thunder 2022 NBA Draft targets
Holmgren is probably the best player in this draft. This means a lot more in this class, as it is very deep and the lottery should be full of great prospects. Still, the Gonzaga center will lead the pack. He is not the consensus first pick, but many mock drafts are putting him at first. Due to Thunder winning 20 games this year, they are likely going to be out of the bottom three, which share the 14% chance for the first pick. Yet, as many also see Jabari Smith going first, Holmgren might be there at some later positions.
He is averaging 14.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks. He is also averaging 61.6% from the field and a great 43.8% from the three-point range. Of course, he does not shoot a ton of shots from the perimeter, with just 3.3 attempts per game, but Holmgren is likely going to just get better at his three-point shot. The Thunder are the bottom team in terms of three-point percentage, converting on just 31.3% of three-pointers this year, so they really need a boost in that regard.
When it comes to overall fit, the Thunder really need a big man. Now, as Jabari Smith is also there, there is some concern on whether Holmgren will be the best big man in the class, but the Thunder are not in a position where they can seriously hope for that first pick. Holmgren will bring them inside presence, a three-point shot, and a possible devastating connection with their current star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Thus, whenever they are picking, they should look at Chet Holmgren, if he is available.
Paolo Banchero
Banchero is an interesting prospect coming out of Duke. He is also a big man, standing at six-foot-ten, 250 pounds. This year, playing for the Blue Devils, Banchero is averaging 17.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, shooting 46.3% from the field, and shooting 32.4% from behind the arc. Now, the efficiency numbers are concerning, especially since the offense will be tougher to come by in the league, but Banchero is so well-rounded that the Thunder simply needs to look at the Duke forward.
He was well regarded coming out of high school and after watching the Duke Blue Devils going 16-4 in the regular season, it is easy to see why. He has offensive and defensive talent and while he might not be elite at anything, he will do absolutely everything on the court to help his team. He can rebound, score, and while the 3.1 assists seem small, he has shown some great court vision in his single season for Duke. The Thunder should also have him available if they fall to the fifth or sixth spot.
In terms of fit, the Thunder could use a two-way forward. Right now, their second-best scorer is Luguentz Dort, who is a small forward, but he is way too small to play on both forward positions. In terms of Banchero, his size combined with great athleticism should be reason enough to pick him, if he is available. A concern might be that he does not do anything elite, as mentioned above, but his versatility on both ends of the floor should be rationale enough for the Thunder to select Paolo Banchero.
Bennedict Mathurin
When it comes to the second lottery pick the Thunder will have, it could be interesting to look at what players might be available around that spot. When it comes to the needs of the Thunder, Ben Mathurin hits all the boxes. He is a combo guard-forward who has interesting offensive upside. He is a sophomore guard from Arizona who really benefited from returning to college for his second year. In his first year, Mathurin played fewer minutes and did not end up declaring for the draft.
This season, however, he has been great for the Arizona Wildcats. Mathurin is averaging 17.3 points, 5.7 boards, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steals. His efficiency is a thing to be worried about, as he is shooting 46.8% from the field and 37.9% from three, down from 47.1% and 41.8% last year. However, a thing to consider is that he jumped up from 7.2 attempts from the field to 12.6, and from 3.5 attempts from three to 5.6. Altogether, the Thunder should not be worried all too much about these numbers and they should look at his offensive upside.
As things stand right now, around 18 games until the end of the season, the Thunder have the 12th best defense in the league, but are dead last in offense, according to Basketball Reference. Thus, getting an automatic offensive injection in Mathurin, especially if he is available with that Clippers' late lottery pick, would be incredible, paired up with their selection at the top of the lottery and Gilgeous-Alexander, who is already on the roster. He might even be worth trading a few future picks to move up and get him around the tenth position, where he is projected to be in most mock drafts.
Follow Us
Subscribe