A mere 72-hours separate 60 young men from their lifelong dream — making the NBA. For executives, their gravity of the moment also has begun to set in, as now, franchises have started to up their ante on trade packages.
As reported midday Monday, Oklahoma City has been caught in the cross.
As first reported by Bleacher Report’s Jonathon Wasserman, Sam Presti has made a “legitimate offer” to the Detriot Pistons to climb to the first overall pick. Detriot declined the offer.
Details of the reported trade package have not been released.
It’s been well-documented that the Thunder planned on being active this draft. Just yesterday, Adrain Wojnarowski coined the franchise as a team expected to be “knocking on the door” for a top 4 pick. Now, it looks as if the trigger has been pulled on inquiring about deals.
Oklahoma City will be riding on the largest stash of draft picks in the NBA for the next six years, barring trades that is. With 18 first-round choices to go along with 18 second-rounders through 2027, the Thunder having the largest round of ammunition when it comes to making draft-oriented deals. The problem — these picks all come with uncertainty.
Detriot declining Oklahoma City’s offer was to be expected, both from an asset point-of-view, but also in scheduling. For all 30 teams, waiting until the last minute to signal off trades helps to wring out the maximum amount of assets from said teams. With the Draft three days away, there’s little pressure among parties — that all changes once staff members step into the war room.
Expect this move from Oklahoma City to be one of many attempts over the next few days to crack higher up into the draft.
The Thunder currently hold selections 6, 16, 18, 34, 36, and 55 in Thursday’s NBA Draft.