Thunder secure valuable draft slots #12 and #17. One pick holds lottery upside, while the other adds depth to a championship contender.
It took the duration of the regular season, play-in tournament and a series of coin flips on Monday night, but the 2026 NBA Draft order is officially set.
After the dust settled, the Oklahoma City Thunder own the #12 and #17 overall draft positions. While the latter of the two cannot be moved, the former has a 7.1% chance to jump into the top four once the ping pong balls are selected at the NBA Draft Lottery that takes place on May 10th in Chicago, Illinois.
The Thunder received the #12 pick from the Los Angeles Clippers in the infamous Paul George for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a treasure trove of draft picks trade that helped create this Oklahoma City title team. That pick has put OKC fans through a rollercoaster of emotions this season. The Clippers started the year with a disastrous 6-21 record and the entire NBA stratosphere outside of Oklahoma feared that the reigning champs would have 50% odds to land one of the elite, blue chip talents such as AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer at the top of the draft. Then Los Angeles rallied for an unbelievable turnaround, becoming the first team in league history to fall 15 games under .500 and finish with a winning record. Thunder fans started kissing the lottery pick goodbye. Then Ty Lue's squad fell to the #9 seed, lost home court in the play-in and missed the playoffs when the Golden State Warriors came from behind double digits in the 4th quarter at The Intuit Dome. All things considered, the #12 pick is a nice prize in a deep, talented draft class.
The Thunder received the #17 pick from the Philadelphia 76ers back in the Al Horford salary dump trade back in 2020. A rebuilding team's salary cap space is paying dividends six years later for a championship team that is adding another 1st round asset. Like the Clippers pick, this is one that bounced around as the 76ers showed signs of being a possible contender and then sustaining some tough injuries and one suspension. There was a shot this also could have been a lottery pick, as Philadelphia was in the play-in tournament as well. But the short-handed #7 seeded 76ers beat the Orlando Magic and locked up a playoff spot. For a moment, this pick was slotted at #18. But Phoenix and Orlando qualifying for the postseason turned this into a 3 way tie at 16-17-18. After Monday night's coin flips, OKC's pick was split down the middle at #17.
Nobody ever knows what the Thunder will do leading into the NBA draft. Given OKC's vast array of assets in draft picks and young players, the Thunder will have plenty of options. What we do know is that in a draft considered one of the best of the past 25 years, the best general manager and talent evaluator has two valuable picks to play with on draft night.