OKC Thunder: 2023 NBA Draft Lottery Preview

Tuesday night could be significant for the Oklahoma City Thunder, as the franchise will find out where its lottery pick will be in the 2023 NBA Draft. While Thunder GM Sam Presti has proven he can find legitimate talent anywhere in the lottery, the hope is that Oklahoma City lands in the top four.

The 2023 NBA Draft Lottery will be held Tuesday, May 16 on ESPN at 7 p.m. CT and will determine the order of selection for the first 14 picks of the 2023 NBA Draft. The Thunder has the twelfth highest lottery odds, and there’s only seven slots in which the official pick can land.

• No. 1: 1.7%
• No. 2: 1.9%
• No. 3: 2.1%
• No. 4: 2.4%
• No. 12: 85.2%
• No. 13: 6.7%
• No. 14: 0.1%

There‘s an extremely high probability that OKC’s pick sticks at No. 12 overall, but there is also an 8% chance it jumps into the top four. Victor Wembanyama is the prize of the lottery and will be taken with the top pick, but there’s plenty of potential franchise-altering talent in this deep class. Over the next few weeks, players will compete at the combine and in individual team workouts to increase their respective draft stocks.

While there is a 92% chance of the Thunder landing a pick near the end of the lottery, that doesn’t mean the team can’t find a core piece in that range. The No. 12 pick has produced a ton of really good prospects over the past several years.

• 2022: Jalen Williams
• 2021: Josh Primo
• 2020: Tyrese Haliburton
• 2019: PJ Washington
• 2018: Miles Bridges
• 2017: Luke Kennard

In this class, the projection is that there will also be quite a bit of talent late in the lottery. Furthermore, the Thunder has the assets to move up if there’s a player Presti wants to go get. In terms of positional need, OKC could use a versatile forward with good size. With that in mind, the Thunder is at a point in the rebuild in which taking the best player available makes the most sense. In the positionless NBA, unorthodox lineups are becoming more common. Especially in a system like Oklahoma City’s, positions don’t matter near as much as skillsets and versatility.

From there, Oklahoma City also has two second rounders, at No. 38 and No. 50 overall that will provide more opportunities to add talent to one of the youngest rosters in the NBA. Often overlooked, second-round prospects always have an opportunity to make an early impact at the NBA level.

While the Thunder would love to see its pick rise into the top four, the reality is that the team already has a top-level talent joining the team next season anyway. Chet Holmgren will be making his NBA debut, joining this upcoming rookie class after being the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

What happens on Tuesday night could significantly impact the future of the franchise with lottery luck, but regardless of what happens the team is one of the best positioned in the entire league to emerge as a contender in the next few years.