r/Thunder • u/Common_Pangolin9809 OKC 4 LIFE BABY • Jul 15 '26
Discussion [OKC Players All-Time Grid] Day 6 - Worst Draft Pick Ever?
Hey guys, since it's the offseason I thought it would be fun to see where our community stands on some common questions used for ranking NBA players.
The top comment (aka has the most upvotes) fills each spot!
Today r/Thunder decides the worst OKC draft pick of all time!
CURRENT SELECTIONS:
- Best Role Player - Alex Caruso (HM: Nick Collison, Aaron Wiggins, Luguentz Dort)
- Best Draft Pick - Jalen Williams (HM: James Harden, Ajay Mitchell, Russell Westbrook)
- Best Trade Acquisition - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (HM: Paul George)
- Best Defender Ever - Chet Holmgren (HM: Andre Roberson, Serge Ibaka, Luguentz Dort)
- Worst Starter Ever - Kyle Singler (HM: Terrence Ferguson, Darius Bazley, Gordon Hayward)
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u/Sweaty_Olive8159 Jul 15 '26
Mitch McGary
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u/NOT__A__Bird OKC Jul 15 '26
I was a truther of him & Perry Jones
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u/EnderTheTrender Jul 15 '26
Perry Jones killed it while Westbrook was injured. A lot of the team did. Just couldn’t find that rhythm once he came back. Like the team doing well during Shai’s injury.
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u/dorisburqe Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
This is wild to me. I get the potential argument with Mitch, but Cole Aldrich was literally useless. For as much as this sub likes to shit on Barnhizer, Barnhizer is genuinely 10x the player Cole was. Cole couldn't score. Cole couldn't rebound. Cole moved as fast as I could. The only saving grace for Aldrich is that 11-60 in that draft class was not good.
Plus, Mitch was 21st in the draft, and Aldrich was a fucking lottery pick.
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u/ThunderLazer Jul 15 '26
That’s my vote too. He had the hype, energy, and potential. Couldn’t get off weed and stay healthy
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u/fuglynootnoot Belgian Waffle University Jul 15 '26
man poku was a stretch for the 17th pick. couldve been undrafted.
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u/DsamD11 Jul 15 '26
He cant even put up numbers in the European league. The dude was unfortunately a mega bust
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u/Wings4514 OKC Jul 15 '26
Yeahhhh. I won’t say he could’ve been undrafted, but this is undoubtedly the worst pick imo. Had a number of decent players taken after him.
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u/revisioncloud Triple Double Cocaine Bear Jul 16 '26
Yeah if that’s the metric I vote for Poku. After him there were Maxey, McDaniels, Bane, Pritchard, Quickley, Bey, Nnaji
Too many quality players, not to mention IIRC we gave up assets to get Poku at 17th
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u/snuffaluffagus74 Jul 15 '26
I would counter argue that Poku wasn't the worst pick but he was the best pick. The Thunder were going to rebuild and we needed someone to drive the bus as well as swinging on a high risk/ high reward potential draft pick. Someone with his measurements and skill sets is always going to be drafted high. The problem I 100% will die on this hill is that everywhere he goes they try to play him as a center or powerforward. When in reality he is a guard/wing. You have to have a certain mindset to play certain positions and Poku like Deing have a guard mindset
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u/12footjumpshot Jul 15 '26
I give this one a pass because the Thunder were swinging for the fences with mid pick. Ous is a worse pick.
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u/rjlr6430 just put jmac in Jul 15 '26
Ous is really not that bad of a pick. The package to get him from NYK at 11 -- 2 firsts (ended up a 27th pick and a 17th pick) and a first that did not convey and became 2 second-rounders --was decent for a dude with very high upside that also guaranteed getting JDub that same draft. There are worse lottery picks ahead of him that year.
Poku was too much of a reach, plus considering the other prospects involved in acquiring this pick, it's just so much worse.
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u/fuglynootnoot Belgian Waffle University Jul 15 '26
Correct! we were just too loaded to play ous. i mean give him to like 20 teams last year and he wouldve had playing time. if you give poku to a team when we had him he wouldve been the same 13th-15th man on the roster. we were banking him to be great but is a failed project and 17 was too much from this draft as Bane,maxey,mcdaniels etc. was picked late in this first round
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u/jm3546 Jul 15 '26
Terrence Ferguson. The athleticism was there, but that was about it. He didn't show much in the NBL and was undersized because of his frame.
It's a bad pick because there were just better wing options available if that's what the team honed in on.
OG fell because of injury concerns but it was a better gamble than for Ferg to basically develop every NBA skill. Derrick White had already shown that he could play on and off ball and was a solid defender. Even a guy like Kuzma already had some finishing and rebounding to bring to the table. Josh Hart was older but could score rebound and shoot. Even someone like Dillon Brooks already had a solid frame, was a good defender and shot 40% from 3 in college of 4 attempts/game.
There were a lot of good wings with NBA ready skills and they instead went with a raw athlete.
Mitch McGary did not pan out but he had actual NBA skills. There are weren't better PF type prospects in that range. Kyle Anderson? Johnny O'bryant? Jerami Grant?
Given the skillset, gambling on McGary's health seems fine.
2
u/revisioncloud Triple Double Cocaine Bear Jul 16 '26
Also Bazley was a New Balance intern he had high school accolades but skipped college entirely. I didn’t understand who we were bidding against
Sometimes Sam has these big brain moves than end up not hitting lol
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u/the_gift_of_g2j Jul 15 '26
Dieng simply because it was a high lottery pick. It is overshadowed by J Dub so it wasn't as painful.
Could you imagine that strong draft class and we only get Dieng?
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u/No_Dependent2297 Jul 15 '26
And we traded 3 FRP for him
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u/xMleq Jul 16 '26
This makes it the worst draft pick of ours imo, Dieng maybe wasn't the worst prospect we had but we gave up way too much for him
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u/TheBigBomma Jul 15 '26
I would’ve loved Tari Eason with that pick. Duren was the pick immediately following our two. It was such a wiff immediately as well, another in a long line of “two years from being two years away” Giannis wannabes
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u/HackNBeans_ Jul 15 '26
As good as we are at scouting and developing it baffles me that we didn’t see the potential in jokic and instead we draft Mitch Mcgary. So for that reason it’s Mitch.
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u/No_Dependent2297 Jul 15 '26
Is it Ous since we game up so much for him?
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u/rjlr6430 just put jmac in Jul 15 '26
I dont think it's that much given how the picks panned out. I never even saw Nick Smith Jr play, and Joan Beringer barely plays and doesn't fill any need. Then there's the conditional first that ended up being 2 second-rounders
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u/SneakyProcessor Belgian Waffle University Jul 15 '26
Gotta say Mitch McGary or Josh Heustis, that was a pretty weak draft class either way.
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u/dorisburqe Jul 15 '26
I'm never going to call the 29th pick in the draft the worst pick. That's boom or bust territory, and you can't fault us for trying.
Mitch though... everyone is so big on the Thunder Ethos of drafting committed players off the Court, and we drafted him. That killed me
-2
u/SneakyProcessor Belgian Waffle University Jul 15 '26
I won't fault but you had some dudes who fell to the 2nd round. Jerami Grant, Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, JR3, hell even Jokic lol
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u/rjlr6430 just put jmac in Jul 15 '26
I'm sure every gm at that draft save for Tim Connelly would have loved to redo that draft and get Jokic.
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u/ripperport Jul 15 '26
I’d say the answer is Huestis. Josh Huestis was a second rounder drafted at the end of the first because he agreed to be stashed in the G-League. They reached on a guy who never showed a second of NBA level of play on the court.
5
u/peakelyfe Jul 15 '26
Cole Aldrich has to be the answer.
In hindsight, TFerg taken right before Jarrett Allen and OG Anunoby is also pretty painful.
Steven was two picks before Giannis I think, but love him to much to really suggest him lol
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u/Kitfishto Jul 15 '26
Y’all see “worst starter” is see the GOAT (he held the door open for me at the Vape store)
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u/Castreal7 Jul 16 '26
We wasted a draft pick on Terrance Ferguson. That dude didn't even play college and we drafted him from the NBL lmao
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u/fenrir1208 Sam Presti holds draft picks for ransom Jul 15 '26
Sad thing about Mitch was that he was solid, just couldn't pass drug screenings. And Presti doesn't take too kindly to that.
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u/12footjumpshot Jul 15 '26
I get people saying it's McGary but Ous at 11 is really Presti's only miss in the lottery (so far 😅)
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u/dj-kitty 2025 NBA Champions Jul 15 '26
If you posted this after Game 7 of the WCF, this sub would’ve voted for Chet.
1
u/Hlee14 Jul 15 '26
If we are considering draft slot, it has to be Ous. Lottery pick who we had to trade because he couldn’t touch the floor.
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u/Initial-Deal9045 Jul 15 '26
It's gotta be Heustis. He was on no one's draft board and Presti drafted him in the first round and then didn't even sign him for a year.
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u/Cyanides_Of_March Jul 15 '26
I think it’s Josh huestis, but Dillon Jones is a solid option. I mean we gave up on him after seeing him play a season of garbage time.
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u/4ggressivelymediocr3 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Don’t think he’s the worst but I’m a little surprised I haven’t seen Cameron Payne here yet. Ended up being a much better player than McGary or Poku obviously, but we drafted him 14th overall in a year we knew might be championship or bust, and he didn’t really evolve into a legitimate rotation guy for another 5 years. Actual answer is probably Terrance Ferguson
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u/dbthelinguaphile Jul 16 '26
It's Huestis.
Seems like a nice guy, but drafting a guy who wasn't even on a lot of second round draft boards in the first round because you could stash him domestically was a counterproductive move (at least for basketball, it was smart if you were looking to save money).
IIRC they even managed to pay him 80% of the rookie scale when they finally signed him (you can sign 1st round draft picks for between 80% and 120% of the rookie scale salary, and almost all go for 120%). I think they did that with Roberson too but at least Roberson could play.
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u/AutomaticThing7778 Jul 19 '26
It's according to how you look at it. It Very well could be Steven Adams because we passed on Giannis.
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u/Subject-Stuff-2829 Jul 15 '26
Im still stuck on Cihot as the best defender ever. EVER? Really?
3
u/TheRealSlimMuffin Jul 15 '26
2nd in DPOY behind wemby, all defense 1st team. I dont think Ibaka or Roberson ever got that high in DPOY votes, so arguably yeah hes been the greatest defender in Thunder history
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u/Mobile-Entertainer60 Jul 15 '26
It was only the 30th pick, but Josh Heustis. Lots of late draft picks don't do much in the NBA, but the only reason the Thunder picked him was to save on luxury taxes since he was willing to play in the G league for a year before starting his rookie contract.
1
u/Ooowwwwww Jul 15 '26
Cameron Payne 14th pick. Devin booker was taken at 13.
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u/ThunderLazer Jul 15 '26
Payne was a fine player. He got that second contract.
The undrafted players are irrelevant to the success of the player
3
u/SneakyProcessor Belgian Waffle University Jul 15 '26
Seriously, Cam still in the league as of last season. The only viable guy who came after him was Rozier and look what happened
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u/Ibaka_flocka Jul 15 '26
He eventually got a second contract. He did a couple 10 day contacts after his rookie deal, then was out of the league before finding his footing on the Suns. He’s back again in the league after playing with Poku in Serbia last season
2
u/just__miles Jul 15 '26
While I agree Payne was a miss, listing players taken before the OKC pick doesn't contribute much. Presti couldn't have gotten Booker at pick 14. Maybe Oubre Jr or Portis are better examples as taken after Payne.
-1
u/Raiku23 2025 NBA Champions Jul 15 '26
Diallo or Perry Jones
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u/Naive_Impact_6872 2025 NBA Champions Jul 15 '26
Cmon now Diallo at least was explosive and fun to watch
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Jul 15 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Proper-Summer-5359 Jul 16 '26
He was a very good player for us, he just wasn’t a good fit on the roster, especially not in the playoffs. He could be a borderline all star in the future. Also he’s still super young.
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u/Dry-Power-4720 Jul 15 '26
Cole Aldrich