No surefire stars are believed to be in this year's NBA Draft.
But one thing every draft has is sleepers. And the Thunder is in prime position to potentially get a good one.
With the 24th overall pick, Oklahoma City can possibly come away with the steal of the draft Thursday night. The mid-to-late 20s has historically been a hotbed for players that fall through the cracks before ultimately carving out solid careers.
Each of the past 10 drafts has yielded players in that range who have become valuable role players, elite scorers and even All-Stars.
Can the Thunder find that next gem?
That's the biggest challenge facing the franchise in this year's draft.
But the beauty of picking 24th is there is no pressure to come away with an impact player. The downside for the Thunder, of course, is the possibility of passing on that prospect that turns out to be a big-time player and, thus, botching the draft.
The Thunder can go many ways Thursday. Because of its stacked roster, the Thunder's most likely option seems to be drafting an international player and stashing him overseas for a few seasons. But OKC also can trade up, as it did last season to net Cole Aldrich, trade down to acquire more future assets or trade out altogether. None of those maneuvers would come as a shock.
Standing pat and selecting someone, though, might be the smartest option of all.
Ignoring for a moment the likelihood of a higher-ranked player slipping and falling to 24, there always seems to be overlooked or under-scouted prospects available in the latter stages of the first round who prove worthy of a selection. The Thunder franchise landed that exact guy in 2008 when it selected Serge Ibaka 24th overall.
Next Story
