NBA Mock Draft: Thunder Swing for the Fences

With their two picks outside of the lottery, could the Thunder take a pair of high-risk players?

The Oklahoma City Thunder will have the fourth-highest lottery odds for the 2022 NBA Draft. Now that the season is over, they officially have finished with the fourth-worst record in the NBA.

Outside of their own, the Thunder have two additional picks in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft, one from the LA Clippers and the other from the Phoenix Suns. These picks were acquired through the separate trades of Paul George and Chris Paul.

The Clippers pick is still not finalized in terms of where it will fall, but that will become more clear later this week. It will either fall late in the lottery or just outside. The Phoenix is already solidified at No. 30, the last pick in the first round.

With these two additional first-round picks, Oklahoma City could look to add young complimentary roster pieces with high upside.

Doric Sam of Bleacher Report recently released a mock draft the 2022 class, which gives insight into where some of the top players in the upcoming rookie class could land. His projection has the Thunder selecting two potentially risky players outside of the lottery.

There’s still a chance that the Clippers' pick that OKC owns ends up in the lottery, but that will be decided on Friday night in the final play-in tournament game.

15. Oklahoma City Thunder: Kennedy Chandler (Guard | Tennessee)

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16. Houston Rockets: Tari Eason (Forward | LSU)

Benny Sieu / USA TODAY Sports

17. Indiana Pacers: EJ Liddell (Forward | Ohio State)

Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETWORK

18. Minnesota Timberwolves: Malaki Branham (Guard | Ohio State)

Charles LeClaire / USA TODAY Sports

19. Chicago Bulls: Dyson Daniels (Guard | G League Ignite)

Darren Yamashita / USA TODAY Sports

20. San Antonio Spurs: MarJon Beauchamp (Forward | G League Ignite)

Ken Blaze / USA TODAY Sports

21. Memphis Grizzlies: Kendall Brown (Forward | Baylor)

Chris Jones / USA TODAY Sports

22. Denver Nuggets: Blake Wesley (Guard | Notre Dame)

Brad Mills / USA TODAY Sports

23. San Antonio Spurs: Walker Kessler (Center | Auburn)

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

24. Brooklyn Nets: Wendell Moore Jr. (Guard | Duke)

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

25. Golden State Warriors: Jaden Hardy (Guard | G League Ignite)

Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports

26. Dallas Mavericks: Christian Braun (Guard | Kansas)

Evert Nelson / The Capital-Journal-USA TODAY NETWORK

27. Milwaukee Bucks: Nikola Jovic (Forward | International)

Brad Penner / USA TODAY Sports

28. Miami Heat: Patrick Baldwin Jr. (Forward | Milwaukee)

MARK HOFFMAN / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL-USA TODAY NETWORK

29. Memphis Grizzlies: Jean Montero (Guard | Overtime Elite)

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30. Oklahoma City Thunder: Bryce McGowens (Guard | Nebraska)

Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports

Taking Chandler at No. 15 and McGowens at No. 30 could be seen as two risky picks. Lacking size, Chandler could really struggle in the modern NBA. As good as McGowens is, he’s been very inconsistent at times. On the flip side, they both have the ceilings to end up being lottery talents in this class.

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