NBA Mock Draft: First Round Picture Becoming Clear for OKC After the Combine

The Thunder added a pair of impactful bigs and a versatile wing in the latest NBA Mock Draft.

The sun has set on the NBA Draft Combine, where multiple prospects made waves.

Despite all of the buzz surrounding Scottie Barnes leapfrogging into the top five, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman projects the Oklahoma City Thunder to take the Florida State wing with the No. 6-overall pick.

“He has outlier star potential, similar to Draymond Green, in that Barnes seems capable fo greatly impacting games with passing, defense and intangibles,” Wasserman wrote. “He has one of the highest floors in the draft with room to improve as a shooter.”

Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti will love Barnes’ measurables as well, as the 6-foot-7 wing logged a wingspan of 7-2 at the combine.

Barnes will have to find a shot in the NBA, as he only shot 27.5 percent from deep and 62.1 percent from the free throw line last year at Florida State.

In the middle of the first round, Wasserman had the Thunder take a pair of bigs.

With the 16th pick, OKC was slotted to take Texas big Kai Jones.

Jones averaged 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game in his sophomore season for the Longhorns in 2020.

At pick 18, Wasserman has the Thunder taking EuroLeague star Alperen Sengun, a center for the Turkish side Besiktas. Sengun is a more traditional center with a great low-post game and the vision to help playmate from the paint.

Sengun doesn’t offer much in the way of shooting outside of the paint, but he has the foundation to be a dominant big while being athletic enough to cope with the modern NBA. 

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