The idea of the Oklahoma City Thunder winning their first ever NBA championship seemed like an impossible dream as the franchise entered the 2022 NBA Draft. The Thunder were coming off a 24-58 season that followed a 22-60 season. They were armed with the No. 2 pick in the draft as their consolation prize for such a terrible season, and had an additional lottery pick at No. 12 thanks to the Los Angeles Clippers missing the playoffs during what was supposed to be their window for championship contention.
Championship teams aren’t built in just one night, and that remains true for the Thunder on the precipice of winning the 2025 NBA Finals. The Thunder needed to fleece the Clippers in the Paul George deal, help develop Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into the league MVP, find hidden gems like Lu Dort (undrafted in 2019), and nail their offseason trades and signings with Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein perfectly amplifying a talented core.
Yet, if you wanted to point to one reason the Thunder are primed to win the NBA championship and possibly a couple more over the next five years, it all goes back to what happened during the 2022 draft. OKC didn’t just find a superstar, they found two, and the rest will soon be history.
The Thunder were at the mercy of the Orlando Magic with the first pick in 2022. Most outlets projected Orlando to take either Chet Holmgren or Jabari Smith Jr. at No. 1 overall. Only one outlet correctly predicted they would actually take Paolo Banchero, and that was us at SB Nation.
This was the first sliding doors moment for OKC’s potential dynasty. If Holmgren goes No. 1, the Thunder don’t have an ace rim protector or a stretch five. If Smith goes No. 1, would the Thunder have taken Banchero over Holmgren?
The Thunder weren’t satisfied with only having two lottery picks. When the New York Knicks came on the clock at No. 11, OKC engineered a trade that sent three protected first-round picks to New York for the selection. Their pick? French wing Ousmane Dieng. Dieng has been glued to the end of the Thunder’s bench ever since, never cracking 40 games played in a season since being drafted.
OKC came on the clock again at No. 12. It took a perfect storm of luck for this Clippers pick to land in the lottery instead of the end of the first round. Kawhi Leonard had to miss the full season recovering from a torn ACL. Paul George had to contract Covid during the play-in tournament, which knocked him out of the lineup. The Thunder rolled the dice on the mid-major wing who had shot up draft boards after a standout performance at the combine: Santa Clara’s Jalen Williams.
Not everyone was pumped about it. Here’s how I graded the pick at the time:
12. Oklahoma City Thunder – Jalen Williams, G, Santa Clara
Grade: B-
Williams was a three-year college player out of Santa Clara who was the biggest winner of the draft combine for his ridiculous measurements and impressive performance in the scrimmages. Williams is a 6’6 wing with an absurd 7’2 wingspan who shot 40 percent from three-point range and also graded out in the 90th percentile of pick-and-roll ball handling. The knock on Williams is his lack of elite quickness. While he did post excellent vertical leaping numbers, he’s someone who very much has to use crafty dribble moves to get where he wants on the floor. Williams’ advanced numbers were worse than you would like for a three-year lottery pick in a mid-major conference, which shows the impact of that lack of athleticism in our opinion. Still, the Thunder need wings and need shooting, and Williams checks both boxes. This is earlier than everyone expected him to go. Williams can contribute now while No. 11 pick Ousmane Dieng develops down the line.
Obviously, I was extremely wrong about Williams, who has turned out to an A+ pick. It’s still wild that OKC took Dieng ahead of him, though maybe they only did that in case the Knicks deal fell through at the last second, and they always preferred J-Dub. We’ll never know.
The Thunder found another contributor with the No. 34 overall pick early in the second round in Arkansas charge-taking master Jaylin Williams. He’s been a solid deep bench piece for them ever since who has seen spot duty throughout this playoff run.
Getting Holmgren and (Jalen) Williams in the same draft is simply an incredible masterstroke by Sam Presti. Presti had already drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden in another era for the Thunder, and he might have out-done himself with OKC’s 2022 haul. Holmgren and Williams are simply the ideal co-stars for Gilgeous-Alexander, and it’s possible all three can be top-10 players sometime in the near future.
Is the Thunder’s 2022 draft class the greatest ever? Here’s the competition as we see it for teams who found multiple high-level contributors in the same draft class.
Chicago Bulls 1987: Scottie Pippen (No. 5) and Horace Grant (No. 10)
This feels like the closest parallel to the Thunder’s 2022 draft. In 1987, the Bulls engineered a legendary trade with the Seattle Supersonics to move up to the No. 5 pick and select Central Arkansas wing Scottie Pippen. The Bulls took Grant out of Clemson with the No. 10 pick a few minutes later. Suddenly, the Bulls had two ideal co-stars around Michael Jordan, and rode the pairing to three straight championships from 1991-1993, and then three more from 1996-1998 even after Grant moved on.
Dallas Mavericks 2018: Luka Doncic (No. 3) and Jalen Brunson (No. 33)
The Doncic for Trae Young swap will go down as one of the most infamous draft day deals in league history. It’s incredible the Mavericks found another All-NBA player in that same draft with Brunson in the second round. Somehow, Dallas has neither star on the roster seven years later. At least Cooper Flagg will make Mavs fans feel better.
Golden State Warriors 2012: Harrison Barnes (No. 7), Festus Ezeli (No. 30), Draymond Green (No. 35)
It’s funny to remember that the Warriors only tanked one year on their way to a mid 2010s dynasty, and that was for the Harrison Barnes pick. Barnes was a solid-if-frustrating player for the Warriors, and a key part of their first 2015 championship team. The real gem was of course Draymond Green, found in the second round, who unseated David Lee to start the dynasty. Ezeli was a nice contributor in the front court for a little there, too.
Seattle Supersonics 2008: Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka
Sam Presti’s first incredible draft haul helped the Thunder reach the NBA Finals in 2012. Westbrook became an icon and an MVP in OKC, while Ibaka’s shooting and rim protection was way ahead of its time.
Cleveland Cavaliers 1986: Brad Daughtery (No. 1), Ron Harper (No. 8), Mark Price (No. 25)
What a haul this was for the Cavs. Daughtery’s career was ruined by injuries by his late 20s, but he was still a five-time All-Star. Harper was a monster scorer before a torn ACL forced him to reinvent himself. Price, who was acquired in a draft day trade with the Mavericks, was one of the most under-appreciated players of his era as a deadly shooter. Too bad Cleveland was in the same conference as peak Michael Jordan, or we might remember this draft class differently.
Milwaukee Bucks 1969: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (No. 1), Bob Dandridge (No. 45)
The Bucks won a coin flip with the Phoenix Suns for the first pick in 1969, and it delivered them Abdul-Jabbar, who is at worst the third best player in league history. Milwaukee found another Hall of Famer later in the draft with Dandridge, who scored more than 15,000 career points and helped the team win the 1971 championship. This really might be the best draft class ever.
What do you think is the best NBA Draft team class ever? Let us know in the comments.
