Thursday, May 1, 2025
BasketballNBANBA Roster Insider: Drafting the Oklahoma City Thunder

NBA Roster Insider: Drafting the Oklahoma City Thunder

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The Oklahoma City Thunder have been either no. 1 or no. 2 overall in this 2024–25 NBA Season. And that’s largely a credit to the young talent they parade out on the court every game. All that talent also means there are lot of fantasy standouts to choose from even though there’s a clear hierarchy within the OKC system. You’ll find out about it next. 

(For our previous NBA Roster Insider Drafts, just click here: Atlanta Hawks | Boston Celtics | Brooklyn Nets | Charlotte Hornets | Chicago Bulls | Cleveland Cavaliers | Dallas Mavericks | Denver Nuggets | Golden State Warriors | Houston Rockets | Indiana Pacers | Memphis Grizzlies | Miami Heat | Milwaukee Bucks | Minnesota Timberwolves | New Orleans Pelicans | New York Knicks)

Your Main Man: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

This is the easy, obvious, and only choice here. Not only is SGA OKC’s main man, but he’s also arguably the leading candidate for NBA MVP. That’s what happens when you lead your team to one of the best records in the league 50-ish games into the season.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s numbers also support his MVP argument and fantasy main man status: 32.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.0 blocks after 54 games. The 32.2 points a game are certainly nice and so are the assists and rebounds. But SGA’s 2.9 stocks (steals + blocks) are mighty impressive—and are huge in fantasy. 

Surefire Studs: Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein

Jalen Williams has emerged as one of the NBA’s best young wings, a Swiss Army-knife player who can do it all on the court. He has also become the Robin to SGA’s Batman and has settled nicely into his role as the Thunder’s second-best player. No surprise then that his value extends from the hardwood to the fantasy world with averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists. 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks. 

Isaiah Hartenstein, meanwhile, has been a revelation to say the least as no one could’ve predicted the former New York Knick becoming a double-double demon. He already has 19 of them this season—2 more than the 17 he recorded in his first six years in the league. He is also averaging a double-double of 11.1 points and 12.0 rebounds to go along with 3.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks. 

Low Cost, High Value Picks: Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace

Chet Holmgren is supposed to be OKC’s big man of the present and future, and he very well maybe. But an injury early this season set him aback just a bit as he’s now just settling back into his role as anchor in the middle. Nevertheless, he’s still averaging 15.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.9 steals, and 2.9 blocks (second in the NBA this season).

Cason Wallace won’t wow with eye-popping stats, but he plays his role well as part of OKC’s bench mob. He is particularly good at wreaking havoc on defense, which results in him getting 1.8 steals and nearly a block a game. He also adds 7.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on top of that stifling defense. 

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Martin Dale D. Bolima
Martin Dale D. Bolima
Martin is an avid sports fan with a fondness for basketball and two bum knees. He has been a professional writer-editor since 2006, starting out in academic publishing before venturing out to sportswriting and into writing just about anything. If it were up to him, he’d gladly play hoops for free and write for a fee.

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