The Oklahoma City Thunder have undertaken one of the most patient rebuilds in recent memory. Thanks to shrewd operation from general manager Sam Presti, they collected a boatload of assets and assembled a terrific young core.
Now, with an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and other cornerstone talents like Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, OKC is a true contender to win the NBA championship. However, the Thunder still have a ton of future draft picks, so one of the most respected names in NBA media believes they should make a franchise-changing move to truly cement themselves as a juggernaut in the Western Conference.
Will the Oklahoma City Thunder Enter the Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes?
In most NBA Drafts, there are a number of players who could viably end up going No. 1 overall. In other years, there’s a generational prospect like Victor Wembanyama or LeBron James, so it’s no secret who will hear their name called first.
The 2025 NBA Draft seems to have an obvious No. 1 pick, with Duke superstar Cooper Flagg penciled into that spot for over a year. Multiple teams have embraced a full-scale rebuild and started tanking in an effort to draft the versatile forward.
Could the Thunder package many of their picks together to trade up for Flagg? The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is urging Thunder general manager Sam Presti to make this move.
“Could this be the year they take that seventh, eighth, ninth Philly pick, add like eight picks to it and just say, ‘Give us Cooper Flagg. Here’s the all-time motherload of picks’? Let’s say Charlotte gets the first pick and just get a war chest of the all-time most picks in a trade ever from OKC, just to move back six spots,” Simmons said.
“You’d have to have like a four-hour meeting about that. Cooper Flagg is really good. But you’d have to think about it because it’s not a Wembanyama pick.”
Should the OKC Thunder consider making a move to draft Cooper Flagg?
GM Bill makes the case that now might be the time for the Thunder to cash in their draft picks.@BillSimmons @RobMahoney pic.twitter.com/AG8xaeD4yQ
— The Ringer (@ringer) February 14, 2025
While Flagg might not be on the same level as a Wembanyama, he is a special player who has been as good as advertised at Duke.
Flagg is currently leading Duke in points (19.8), rebounds (7.6), assists (4.0), blocks (1.2), and steals (1.6, tied with Maliq Brown). He’s on pace to become the first freshman to lead his team in every statistical category while making the NCAA Tournament.
There’s a chance Flagg could win a unanimous National Player of the Year award, which has only been done twice in history (by Kevin Durant and Zion Williamson).
Over the next five drafts, the Thunder own all of their picks while also either owning or having swap rights to nine first-round picks from other teams. In other words, they own or have swap rights to 14 first-rounders over the next five years, and they could have as many as four first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. Simultaneously, OKC owns 17 second-round picks over that span.
MORE: Cooper Flagg Sends 8-Word Message That May Upend 2025 NBA Draft
Even if the Thunder give up a gargantuan haul to land Flagg, they would still have more picks than most teams and a ton of young talent on their roster. This move would put them in a great position in both the short term (as a contender) and the long term (as they would have arguably the best young core in the NBA).
NBA executives have wondered for some time when Thunder GM Sam Presti will cash in his picks and make a swing-for-the-fences trade since there’s no way he can keep all of these selections. Now, OKC is currently tied for the best record in the league despite entering the season as the NBA’s youngest team (with an average age of 24.1 years old).
All eyes will be on Presti to see how he utilizes his draft capital. Will a generational talent like Flagg finally persuade Presti to go all-in and push his chips to the middle of the table?
