After building an NBA championship team with a commitment to young player development, the Oklahoma City Thunder dived back into the draft pool a few days after the celebration.
The Thunder used the 15th overall pick in the first round on Wednesday night on Thomas Sorber, a 6-foot-9 versatile defender with the potential to be an effective low-post scorer who played one season in college at Georgetown.
Sorber can provide some bulk and depth behind the slender Chet Holmgren and his frontcourt partner, Isaiah Hartenstein. Oklahoma City also had the 24th pick, sending it to Sacramento in a proposed trade.
General manager Sam Presti's trades in recent years have allowed the Thunder to stockpile picks for maximum control over the most unpredictable aspect of professional sports. They have as many as 10 first-round picks, including their own, over the next five years, including three in 2026. Last year's first-rounder, point guard Nikola Topic, is nearly recovered from a torn ACL in his left knee that kept him out for his entire rookie season.
The Utah Jazz, who bottomed out this season with the worst record in the league, have a long way to go with their rebuild. After bad lottery luck left them with the fifth overall pick, they took wing Ace Bailey, who spent his only college season at Rutgers.
''I feel like I can improve on everything. I'm very young," Bailey told reporters. "I'm just coming to the game, so it's a lot of stuff I can improve, physically and mentally. I mean, from jump shots to more creativity, to more ballhandling, just all over the place.''
The Jazz later moved up from 21st to 18th in a proposed trade with Washington that netted them point guard Walter Clayton Jr. from national champion Florida, a 22-year-old whose ball skills and clutch shooting were on full display throughout the NCAA Tournament.
The Portland Trail Blazers moved down from 11th to 16th in a proposed trade with Memphis that landed them another big man, the 7-foot-2 Yang Hansen.
