2024 NBA Mock: Thunder Drafts UConn Huskies Center

What direction should the Thunder go in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft

The college basketball season is hitting prime time for stars to show their abilities on the big stage, and the NBA draft cycle starts to ramp up. With this Kevin O'Connor's mock drafts are updated weekly for the 2024 NBA Draft cycle. Every Monday, he updates his new mock draft on The Ringer with new themes. This week, Kentucky's Reed Sheppard jumped to the No. 1 pick, with other moves being made. 

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, they landed UConn's Donovan Clingan in the updated mock draft. Clingan is a National Champion, having won the 2022-23 championship with the Huskies as a backup big man. Now, in his second season at UConn, the big man has seen an improved role, earning a starting job and more minutes. 

"The Thunder need size, especially for potential postseason faceoffs with Nikola Jokic down the line," O'Connor wrote. "As a big-bodied center, Clingan would fit perfectly next to Chet Holmgren; the two could play together, with Chet in more of a perimeter role, or Clingan can serve as a lone big backing him up. And yes, this choice would mean passing up on the brother of Jalen Williams—sorry!"

Of course, it would be a storybook for the Thunder to land Cody, Jalen Williams' younger brother. Going in the direction of drafting a backup big man wouldn't hurt, either. Clingan is 7-foot-2, 265 pounds. He's an ideal bruiser with length, making him a very solid backup big-man option.

It's hard to imagine the Thunder drafts a player that will have an early opportunity to become a starter, as there is currently a set starting lineup, and any changes to that starting unit would come in-house now with plenty of starting-level players on the bench.

So, drafting a position of need could make sense, and there seems to be depth at every position, though the most obvious "need" could be the center position. Clingan is averaging 12.4 points per game in 21.5 minutes per game for the Huskies. He averages 6.9 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocks per game, too. 

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.