The Thunder’s future draft pick situation could make them an NBA super dynasty

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the reigning NBA champions, and they look even better at the start of this season. OKC is coming off a year where it won 68 regular season games and then survived two Game 7s to win the first ring in Thunder history. While a young OKC team looked a little shaky in the 2025 playoffs, there was no doubt it was always the favorites entering this season as they try to become the first team to go back-to-back since Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

The Thunder are running away with the 2025-26 season so far as they enter the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup. OKC is 23-1 on the year, and they’re currently posting the best net-rating of all-time at +16. A year ago, the Thunder posted the second-best net rating ever at +12.8 only behind the 72-10 Chicago Bulls from 1996. There is a very real chance the Thunder break the NBA’s all-time wins record this year, set at 73-9 by the 2016 Warriors. The bigger concern for the rest of the league is that the Thunder are poised to keep getting better and better over the next few years.

OKC’s core is all in its prime. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would get my MVP vote again this year, and he is firmly in his prime at age-27. Jalen Williams turns 25 years old in April, Chet Holmgren turns 24 years old in May, breakout bench scorer Ajay Mitchell is 23 years old through the end of the season, and Cason Wallace is only 22. Beyond age-curve improvement, the Thunder also have a terrifying stash of draft picks.

There’s a very real chance the Thunder land the No. 1 overall pick in the loaded 2026 draft thanks to their infamous Paul George trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Thunder own the Clippers’ unprotected draft pick, and LA currently has the third-worst record in basketball at 6-18. If the season ended today, the Clippers’ pick would have maximum 14 percent odds of landing at No. 1, which would give OKC their pick of Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and A.J. Dybantsa.

The Clippers falling off a cliff is a nightmare scenario for the rest of the NBA’s contenders with OKC in position to land another blue chip talent. The nightmare is only getting worse, because the 2026 Clippers pick is just the start of OKC’s future draft stash. Here’s every pick owned by the Thunder right now.

Thunder 2026 draft stash

First round picks:

• Clippers’ unprotected pick
• Utah Jazz’s top-8 protected pick
• Houston Rockets’ top-4 protected
• Philadelphia 76ers’ top-4 protected pick (also top-4 protected in 2027 if it doesn’t convey)

Second round picks:

• Most favorable of Mavs/Sixers/Thunder

The Clippers pick is real prize here, and at the moment it can land no worse than No. 7 overall. The Utah pick is the one to watch, because right now the Jazz sit at No. 8 in the lottery standings, meaning if they drop down even one more spot the pick goes to OKC. The Thunder are also getting Philly’s pick (currently No. 18 overall) and Houston’s pick (currently No. 26). OKC is in line to get the Mavericks’ second-rounder, which should be another top-40 selection.

How did OKC land all these picks? Everyone knows about the George trade. Utah’s pick arrived via the 2021 Derrick Favors salary dump. Philly’s pick arrived for taking on Al Horford in a salary dump. The Thunder used their cap space to take on bad contracts for future picks during their tanking years, and now those picks are set to pay off in a big way.

Thunder 2027 draft pick stash

First round picks:

• Pick swap with Clippers
• Nuggets’ top-5 protected pick (also top-5 protected in 2028 and 2029 if it doesn’t convey)
• Spurs’ top-16 protected pick (converts to two 2027 seconds if it doesn’t convey)

Second round picks:

• Most favorable of Pacers/Heat/Rockets/Thunder

The fact that the Thunder have a pick swap with the Clippers next year too is just unfair. The Clippers’ cap space doesn’t hit until the summer of 2027, so there’s a strong chance they might be really bad again. There’s legitimately a scenario in place where the Thunder can three-peat as champions in 2027 and land the No. 1 overall pick for the second year in a row. Sheesh. The Nuggets sent OKC their top-5 protected first-rounder in 2027 as part of a weird 2023 pick swap trade by Calvin Booth. Denver should be awesome again next year, but it is always only one extended Nikola Jokic injury away from disaster. Add in the Spurs’ pick and the Thunder will have three first-round picks in the 2027 NBA Draft.

Thunder 2028 draft pick stash

First round picks:

• Pick swap with Mavericks

Second round picks:

• Bucks 2nd
• Jazz 2nd

The Mavericks gave OKC a pick swap for 2028 back in 2024 for an extra first to help them complete the Daniel Gafford trade. At the time, the Mavs thought they were set up for a long contention window around Luka Doncic. Nico Harrison’s delusional Luka trade now suddenly put the Mavs in real danger of giving a premium pick to the Thunder if they don’t build up quickly around Cooper Flagg. The Jazz and Bucks’ unprotected second picks could be very high seconds, too.

Thunder 2029 draft pick stash

First round picks:

• Own pick

Second round picks:

• Hawks 2nd unprotected
• Celtics 2nd unprotected
• Rockets 2nd unprotected
• Heat 2nd unprotected

The Thunder currently don’t own a surplus first-rounder in 2028-2032. I’m guessing that will change soon, but for now their second round pick stash is pretty incredible in 2029.

Thunder 2030 draft pick stash

First round picks:

• Own pick

Second round picks:

• Nuggets 2nd unprotected
• Rockets 2nd unprotected
• Heat 2nd unprotected

Thunder 2031 draft pick stash

First round picks:

• Own pick

Second round picks:

• Least favorable of Pelicans/Magic 2nd

Thunder 2032 draft pick stash

• owns picks in first and second

What the Thunder’s future draft stash means for NBA’s competitive future

The Thunder had a great young team broken up by the luxury tax once before. OKC dealing James Harden to the Houston Rockets is one of the most infamous trades in league history, and it happened because the small-market Thunder decided they couldn’t afford to pay Harden alongside Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka. OKC is uniquely situated to avoid that same problem happening again under a more punitive luxury tax right now, because all these future picks will give them more chances to find contributors as they lose rotation players to bigger offers elsewhere.

Losing a player like Cason Wallace or Ajay Mitchell eventually would be a devastating blow for most franchises. If it happens in OKC, they’ll get tons of chances to find a cost-controlled replacement who can keep the machine rolling. If this Clippers pick really hits big, it’s possible that one day OKC trades one of its ‘big three’ for another massive haul of future picks, and the cycle will keep repeating itself.

Sam Presti’s genius Paul George trade built a championship team, and it still has two more draft cycles to pay off big-time once again. This is the NBA’s parity era, but one of the league’s smallest-market teams is poised to smash it. No one is going to give the Thunder another championship before they earn it, but the threat of their continued dominance is a horrifying thought for the rest of the league.