Dream Scenario: OKC Thunder Land Top-Five Pick, Draft Amen Thompson

Technically speaking, during the NBA lottery, anything could happen and any team could land in a variety of different spots.

Oklahoma City enters with the 12th best odds at the No. 1 pick, meaning their most likely draft spot will be the 12th pick. However, should the lottery play in the favor of Oklahoma City and they land a top-5 pick they would also have the potential to land one of the most naturally athletic prospects in the draft.

Amen Thompson, one of the two coveted Thompson twins out of Overtime Elite, will almost certainly be off the board after the top-5, and OKC would likely need the fourth pick or better to guarantee Thompson’s availability. It’s not impossible, until it is.

Thompson stands at 6-foot-7, 205-pounds, and can play as a lead guard or stretch to the three and play on the wing, if needed. His show-stopping athleticism and ball-handling ability is near the top of the class and would mesh well with the current OKC team. His playmaking and passing ability is natural and his floor vision is elite.

Offensively, there is concern with his 3-point shooting as he hovered near 25% from beyond the arc with OTE on just under three attempts per game. He also shot sub-60% from the free throw line during his OTE time. However, inside the arc and at the rim Thompson is nothing short of elite, and would fit in well with the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and the other OKC players. His first step and ability to get to the rim would fuse with the fast paced OKC offense. 

Despite the concerns over his shot, his ability to play as a lead guard, stretch the floor and play strong defense carries the load in making him an elite prospect. With Oklahoma City putting a major emphasis on improving the offense, another playmaker like Thompson would help take the lineup over the hump and put them into position to make a deeper postseason run sooner rather than later.

Oklahoma City will need a lot to fall its way for Amen Thompson to even be a possibility on draft night, but nothing is impossible. With the chance of Thompson joining the fray few NBA lineups would have the athleticism OKC would have, making them closer to a contender than a lottery team.  

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