Each day up until the NBA Draft on Thursday, June 25, I will be taking control of an NBA franchise to select its next star (it seems in this classes case, its next seventh man).
3. Oklahoma City Thunder — Hasheem Thabeet, C, Connecticut
After missing out on the Blake Griffin sweepstakes, Thunder general manager Sam Presti has to be disappointed with the third slot. Griffin would have filled a huge hole in OKC's weak inside game.
If I'm the Thunder here, I'm taking Thabeet whether at No. 2 or 3. Again, I'm not sold on Ricky Rubio as a legit prospect.
Kevin Durant is on the verge of superstardom and needs a sidekick. That sidekick isn't coming in this class, no matter what experts say. Multi-forward Jeff Green is a serviceable talent, but is best with the second unit. Oklahoma City grabbed guard Russell Westbrook with the fourth pick in last year's draft and he showed signs of promise in his rookie season.
With Thabeet as the pick here, OKC gets a defensive stud in the middle. The 7-foot-3 UConn product showed flashes of dominance in Big East play during his junior year. Thabeet averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game. Currently, the Thunder own no threat of intimidation in the middle.
The Thunder, formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics, have a terrible history in selecting big men. Here's a quick list of recent talent chosen with their first pick: Saer Sene (2006), Johan Petro (2005), Robert Swift (2004). Sene and Petro are both gone and Swift has played in 34 games over the past two seasons. I wouldn't use the word 'successful' when it comes to OKC picking big men.
Thabeet is still raw and lacks any sort of offensive game, but 7-3 shot-blocking machines with a resume don't come along every draft.
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