Well folks, we’re here. The Draft is in just three short days and in the week leading up to it, there have already been plenty of rumors and reports surrounding our beloved franchise. So, with that being said, here’s your list!
July 29, 2021(UPDATE): Sam Presti has inquired with all 5 teams ahead of us in this draft to see what it takes to move into the top 5. Bleacher Report has Oklahoma City listed as the team most likely to make the most moves and honestly, I don’t see any scenario in which a team moves more pieces than we do tonight. Expect lots of moves and a potential breakthrough into a Cavs deal in which we get the 3rd pick and/or Sexton.
July 28, 2021(UPDATE): The Thunder are a potential trade destination for Cleveland guard Collin Sexton, per Evan d’Amarell. OKC is rumored to like the pairing of SGA and Sexton in the backcourt and honestly, I love the idea. Go for it, Sam.
July 28, 2021(UPDATE): The Thunder are the most active team in the league right now trying to move higher in the draft, per Chad Ford. Whether we trade up into the top 3 or not, there is no way on earth we will be bringing in six rookies after the night is over tomorrow. Expect deals to be made. Presti isn’t going to sit around and draft six players and call it good
July 27, 2021(UPDATE): Oklahoma City is not expected to extend Tony Bradley’s contract, per Tony Jones. It seems like Presti has someone in mind come draft night… *cough* Mobley *cough*.
July 27, 2021 (UPDATE): I’m sure you’ve probably heard already, but the rumors that Oklahoma City offered Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the 6th pick to the Pistons in exchange for the first pick, per Mike Babcock, is just false. For one, Oklahoma City has no reason to trade Shai for the first pick in hopes that Cade turns into a player that’s like…. Shai. It would make zero sense to do this deal on our end. But, if it WAS legit (which it wasn’t), Detroit would have been absolutely foolish to decline this deal. So there’s no way on earth this actually happened. Don’t let Babcock, the same guy who reported that James Harden had been officially traded to Philly, fool you.
July 26, 2021: Oklahoma City made a trade offer to the Detroit Pistons and it got rejected, per Jonathon Wasserman. Being rejected is no fun but at least it proves that Presti is wanting to be aggressive.
July 25, 2021: UConn guard James Bouknight has met with Sam Presti and other OKC Thunder front office members and had dinner, per Rylan Stiles. OKC apparently has been scouting Bouknight since his freshman season at UConn and have been intrigued at what a potential backcourt of SGA and Bouk could look like. And I’m all for it.
July 25, 2021: Woj has no reason to believe that Kawhi Leonard is leaving the Clippers, per his podcast. This was mentioned in an article written previously here at Heartland by Clemente Almanza. Kawhi Leonard leaving would initiate a spike in value of the Thunder’s warchest of draft stock, because a lot of it comes from the Clips. Without Kawhi, Paul George is not enough to make that franchise contenders and those picks should skyrocket in value. ESPECIALLY if PG leaves as well.
July 25, 2021:James Bouknight stated “I could see myself fitting in with [Oklahoma City]. Me and Shai in the backcourt, I think that would be a deadly young backcourt.”
July 25, 2021: OKC could flip one of their first rounders (most likely 16 or 18) to Atlanta in exchange for Cam Reddish, considering Atlanta desperately needs cap relief and is rumored to want to start over with their rookie development, per Jonathon Givony. Imagine a lineup of SGA, Bouknight and Dort with Cam coming off the bench. Absolutely insane.
July 25, 2021: Oklahoma City is a possible trading partner with the Kings involving Marvin Bagley and pick number 9, and the 18th pick and one of our many trade exceptions could be involved, per Rylan Stiles. The Kings want to unload Bagley’s contract and are rumored to be willing to overpay in order to do so. Sign me up.
July 25, 2021: Mike Schmitz has Oklahoma City selecting James Bouknight at number 6, and Adrian Wojnarowski discussed this on his podcast. Woj has high praise for the young scorer out of UConn and really gassed him up in the podcast. Woj seems to be right about basically anything and could probably predict where the earth’s location around the sun will be in 100 years with no problem, so I’d take what he’s saying about Bouknight as legitimate.
Well, that seems to be all of the new info and rumors on Oklahoma City. Make sure you come back to this article though! I will be updating it as new information comes through… and when running a page like @okcaccess on Instagram, I tend to see quite a bit of new tidbits of information involving our franchise. So stay tuned friends. 🙂