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As the Los Angeles Clippers head into 2024-25 without star Kawhi Leonard or a date, targeting the five-time All-Star's return, the Oklahoma City Thunder could be the league's most significant beneficiary of a potentially disappointing season in Los Angeles. The Thunder will begin the regular season without Isaiah Hartenstein, but that won't have nearly the same ripple effect for Oklahoma City as losing Leonard will for the Clippers, who could grant Oklahoma City a path toward drafting Duke basketball's top prospect, Cooper Flagg, in 2025.
When the Thunder acquired Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for Paul George in a blockbuster move with the Clippers in 2019, Oklahoma City reeled in a boatload of assets, including the Clippers' 2024 first-round pick, which OKC used to select rookie Dillon Jones in this year's draft. However, Los Angeles also added the right to swap first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.
After ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news surrounding Kawhi Leonard's injury and its indefinite timetable, Yahoo! Sports' Kevin O'Connor reminded fans of what the future could entail if the Clippers were to miss this year's playoffs and became a lottery team.
“The Western Conference is so stacked there's a strong chance now that the Clippers miss the play-in. Which would give the Thunder a lottery pick,” O'Connor said via X, formerly Twitter. “Which means the Thunder could end up with Cooper Flagg. Just saying.”
Toward the end of the regular season, Thunder fans will watch the Clippers and the Western Conference standings, especially if Leonard, who missed only 14 games last season after sitting out of 20 in back-to-back seasons, misses most of the 2024-25 regular season and the Clippers plummet.
Thunder could swap first-round picks with the Clippers in 2025
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, trading Paul George to the Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the gift that keeps giving. Few knew then, but Gilgeous-Alexander's ascension to becoming a top-five NBA player and an MVP candidate at 26 made the trade a slam-dunk victory for the association's up-and-coming team. Kawhi Leonard's injury could now assist the Thunder with its next up-and-coming star.
Add five future first-round picks, including Oklahoma City's 12th overall pick in 2022, Jalen Williams; suffice it to say, Thunder vice president and GM Sam Presti pulled off a heist. The future is bright for the Thunder. It has been for a long time throughout its rebuild, spearheaded by Presti's approach of collecting valuable assets in the form of tradable contracts and future draft picks for perennial stars.
Then, he cashed in on those assets to form a young, multifaceted, thriving core on the cusp of evolving into a championship contender in 2024-25.
