Everything was chalk for the first three picks. Cade Cunningham. Jalen Green. Evan Mobley. Then things got weird. When the Toronto Raptors selected Scottie Barnes with the 4th pick, you could tell this was going to be a strange draft. Orlando HAD to select Jalen Suggs at that point. And they did. Which put Oklahoma City on the clock.

James Bouknight. It has to be James Bouknight, right? That’s all we’ve heard of the past 2-3 weeks. The Thunder had been monitoring Bouknight for two years now. They would’ve taken a long look at him in last year’s draft had he come out. The rumors were that Bouknight had an amazing workout in front of the Thunder and that the Thunder took him out to dinner while he was in OKC. I don’t know about you, but if someone wines and dines me, I might think things may be getting serious. Alas, the words “With the 6th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder select…James Bouknight out of UCONN,” were never uttered.

Instead, it was Josh Giddey, a 6’9″ point guard out of the Adelaide 36ers (Terrance Ferguson’s old stomping grounds) in Australia. No one had this pick on their radar, except for fellow Australian Leigh Ellis a couple of hours before the draft (insider information, mate). When the pick was first made, the initial reaction was one of shock and wonderment. “What the hell are the Thunder doing?” “This has to be a part of a bigger deal. Maybe the Grizzlies are looking to get Giddey. Maybe the Warriors will part with 7 & 14 for Giddey. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.”

As the minutes marched on and the tweets from the Thunder came out, it became very apparent that Giddey was the Thunder’s guy all along. Thunder GM Sam Presti said about Giddey, “He’s a really good basketball player at his size. At his position, he makes others better and the team better overall. We feel like he’s a really good match for us. His love of cognition in the game is at a very high level.”

At 16, the Thunder had the opportunity to add another good, young player to their rotation. But when Houston came calling with an offer of 2 future first round picks, the offer was just too good for the Thunder to pass up. Presti said, “It’s very unusual to be offered two future firsts for a pick that far out. It was way above the line of valuation for that pick and we’d likely make that deal again if the opportunity presented itself in the future.” The two picks the Thunder acquired from the Rockets were a heavily protected 2022 first from Detroit and another heavily protected 2023 first from Washington.

At 18, the Thunder selected guard Tre Mann out of Florida. Known as a play-making wing, Mann averaged 16 points, 5.6 boards, and 3.5 assists while shooting 40% from beyond the arc. Presti said, “We really liked Mann and hoped that he’d be there at 18.”

Heading into the 2nd round of the draft, the Thunder had picks 34, 36, and 55. They immediately packaged 34 and 36 to New York to move up to 32. With that pick, Oklahoma City selected Villanova forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The 6’9″, 230 pound Robinson-Earl spent two season at ‘Nova and averaged 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds. Presti said he packaged 34 and 36 because he didn’t think Robinson-Earl would last until pick 34.

With their final pick of the evening, the Thunder selected Maryland forward Aaron Wiggins at 55. The 6’6″ wing averaged 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds last season. He was the 2019-20 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year.

In the end, what was thought to be a draft where the Thunder could move up in, turned out to be one where they stayed put for the most part and got the players they were targeting all along. In his post-draft press conference, Presti finished the long evening with the following quote, “For us, we’re looking to not only see who is the best player, but also who is the bet player for our program. A draft is not a singular event. Team building is very layered and takes a long time. It’s a really evolving thing.”