Oklahoma City Thunder’s Draft History (2006-2015)

Alan Draper profile picture
Sports Editor

Over the past 10 NBA Drafts (2006-2015), the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle SuperSonics) have made 27 selections, yielding three All-Stars in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

The following table details Oklahoma City’s track record by tiers, noting the number of All-Stars and starters selected, along with players who either never made the league or were out in five years or less:

Tier Picks All-Star All-Star Appearances Starter* Not in NBA
1-5 4 3 (75%) 16 4 (100%) 0
6-10 1 0 0 0 1 (100%)
11-15 3 0 0 1 (33.3%) 0
16-20 0 0 0 0 0
21-25 4 0 0 1 (25%) 1 (25%)
26-30 4 0 0 1 (25%) 1 (25%)
31-40 4 0 0 0 3 (75%)
41-50 3 0 0 0 3 (100%)
51-60 4 0 0 0 4 (100%)
Total 27 3 (11.1%) 16 7 (25.9%) 13 (48.1%)

*Starter criteria determined as an average of 50 or more starts, over at least 40 percent of the player’s career.

The following is the league average over the same tiers:

Tier All-Star Starter Not in NBA
1-5 12 (24%) 30 (60%) 3 (6%)
6-10 8 (16%) 30 (60%) 7 (14%)
11-15 2 (4%) 12 (24%) 8 (16%)
16-20 3 (6%) 10 (20%) 8 (16%)
21-25 2 (4%) 8 (16%) 15 (30%)
26-30 1 (2%) 5 (10%) 20 (40%)
31-40 1 (2%) 11 (11%) 52 (52%)
41-50 2 (2%) 8 (8%) 70 (70%)
51-60 1 (1%) 1 (1%) 87 (87%)
Total 32 (5.3%) 115 (19.7%) 270 (45.0%)

The Thunder have had tremendous success in the draft with their All-Star selections of Durant, Westbrook and Harden (who is now with the Houston Rockets).  They’ve also landed valuable rotation players like Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka.  The pick to draft Adams was acquired from the Rockets as part of the Harden deal.

Note that players are included with the team through any draft-day trades.  Some teams pick well but let an eventual starter leave for another, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.  Recently drafted players have yet to officially pass the “at least five years” test, but were considered as such if on a team’s roster by the end of the 2015-16 season.

Additionally, recent picks who have yet to join the NBA may still do so, but for this analysis are considered “out.”

Pick History 2006-2015

All-Stars: Kevin Durant (2007-2) — seven appearances, Russell Westbrook (2008-4) — five appearances, James Harden (2009-3) — four appearances

Starters: Jeff Green (2007-5), Serge Ibaka (2008-24), Steven Adams (2013-12), Andre Roberson (2013-26)

Rotation Players: D.J. White (2008-29), Cole Aldrich (2010-11), Tibor Pleiss (2010-31), Reggie Jackson (2011-24), Mitch McGary (2014-21), Josh Huestis (2014-29), Cameron Payne (2015-14)

Out in Five Years or Less: Mouhamed Sene (2006-10), Denham Brown (2006-40), Yotam Halperin (2006-53), DeVon Hardin (2008-50), Byron Mullens (2009-24), Robert Vaden (2009-54), Latavious Williams (2010-48), Ryan Reid (2010-57), Perry Jones (2012-28), Alex Abrines (2013-32), Grant Jerrett (2013-40), Semaj Christon (2014-55), Dakari Johnson (2015-48)

Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.