RookieWire draft composite: Most likely players for Thunder selections
Last week, the RookieWire put together a list in which it used big boards from several mock drafts to figure out the most common landing spots of players who could be drafted to the NBA in 2021.
This gives a clearer picture of the potential options of the Oklahoma City Thunder, both with their top pick(s) and that of the Miami Heat, if they end up with it.
RookieWire used mock drafts of ESPN, NBC Sports, Bleacher Report, NBA Draft Room, NBADraft.net and For The Win.
The top five spots were nothing surprising. Cade Cunningham was unanimously seen as the top pick, which goes along with the general consensus. Evan Mobley was No. 2 in every draft except that of NBA Draft Room.
The third pick had less consensus. Jalen Suggs had the third-best average, but Jonathan Kuminga was third in FTW’s while Jalen Green was third in NBADraft and Bleacher Report and got up to second in NBA Draft Room.
Green finished with the fourth-best average and Kuminga at five.
This uncertainty is good for the Thunder, who are tied for the fourth-best odds and, whether they end up in fourth or fifth, would have better than a 40% chance of landing a top-five selection.
This year, all five players have star potential.
None of that is surprising. Thunder fans may have a favorite of this group, but as long as they get a top-five pick, they should be content.
Where the consensus was more interesting was the Miami Heat’s pick, which would transfer from the Heat to the Thunder if the Houston Rockets’ pick stays in the top four.
At the time of publication, the Heat had pick 19, but as the season ended they rose to 18.
The 18th spot in the composite is Ziaire Williams, whose showed a versatile skill set and size to go with scoring ability. His stock has been all over the place this season, though, and it continues to be — the freshman Stanford wing is still top-10 in NBADraft’s list, but he’s No. 24 on ESPN.
LSU guard Cameron Thomas was No. 19 on the list. As a freshman, he posted 23 points per game, but only averaged 1.4 assists and shot about 40% from the field. He’s a scorer to be certain, but there are limitations to his game that create that wide range.
Given as this is a composite and did not take team needs into account, it’s worth looking at the players around the Heat’s pick as well.
UConn guard James Bouknight, who had actually been mocked to the Thunder multiple times earlier in the season, has seen his stock fall. His average is now 17th among all prospects, though he does No. 8 in NBC Sports’.
Freshman Kentucky forward Isaiah Jackson is No. 20 while junior Baylor guard Jared Butler is No. 21.
