The Thunder may have another clean path to a premium draft asset, and the Clippers’ latest punishment could make the road even smoother.
Oklahoma City already had reason to keep an eye on LA’s future. The Thunder own the right to swap picks with the Clippers in next year’s draft after their role as a third party in the 2023 deal that sent Kawhi Leonard and James Harden together. That arrangement had already put the Thunder in position to benefit from the fallout of the Leonard era, and it helped deliver the No. 12 overall pick this past year.
Now the situation looks even better for Oklahoma City.
With the league handing the Clippers five future first-round picks in response to the cap circumvention investigation, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes suggested the punishment could push LA toward chasing draft compensation elsewhere. In his view, that kind of squeeze “increases the odds of trading for someone else's” picks.
That matters for the Thunder because the Clippers’ response may involve putting Darius Garland on the block. Garland is the team’s top remaining player of note, and Hughes pointed to him as the most obvious way for LA to recover some draft capital.
Garland is a two-time All-Star, and after joining the Clippers in early March, he helped them go 14-9 while averaging 19.9 points and 6.4 assists. He shot 47.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three.
At 26, Garland sits squarely in his prime, which is exactly why Hughes believes teams in need of point guard help would “would happily” give up a pick or two to land him.
If the Clippers do go that route, the Thunder’s swap position only becomes more valuable. Oklahoma City could wind up with yet another high-end lottery pick, all while LA tries to claw back some of the draft stock it just lost.
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