BOISE, IDAHO – MARCH 11: Dillon Jones #2 of the Weber State Wildcats looks on during the first half … [+]
Over the course of two days, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Nikola Topic, Dillon Jones and Ajay Mitchell in the 2024 NBA Draft earlier this week. While somewhat of an unexpected approach to the draft by Thunder GM Sam Presti, who entered the event with just one pick, Oklahoma City landed three players with the ability to handle the ball and process the game at a high level.
The clear need for the Thunder this offseason is adding size to the roster, but OKC will instead explore other avenues to make that happen. Luckily for the Thunder, the offseason is young and there are still several methods of adding talent this summer — one of which is free agency, which begins later today at 5:00 p.m. CT.
After leaving this week’s draft with three new players, should Oklahoma City’s free agent plan look any different than it did before?
The reality is that of the three players the Thunder drafted, only one is projected to have a real chance to crack the rotation in the upcoming season. Topić will miss the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign with a torn ACL he suffered back in April and Mitchell is expected to be on a two-way contract meaning he will spend much of his time in the G League unless he ends up being a breakout player.
That leaves Jones, who does a little bit of everything on the floor and has the tools to help the team win, but will have to earn his minutes. At 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan, he’s a phenomenal rebounder and connective facilitator. Still, he will take time to adjust in the NBA after four seasons playing mid-major ball in the Big Sky Conference.As versatile as he is with the flexibility to play multiple positions, Jones will primarily be competing for guard and wing minutes which will be hard to come by.
Considering the Thunder was likely never expecting to fill its voids immediately via the draft, the results of the event were never going to be what put this team over the edge in the upcoming season. Even if Oklahoma City had drafted multiple bigs, it still wouldn’t have impacted the free agency strategy.
Looking ahead to the start of free agency later today, frontcourt depth will be the focal point for OKC. If the Thunder does opt to sign a wing, expect it to be a bigger, more physical perimeter player.
Even then, Oklahoma City has never been a big free agent destination. Since relocating from Seattle, this is an organization that has never made a truly significant external singing. Outside of Patrick Patterson (2017) and Nerlens Noel (2018), the Thunder has never signed a player who ends up being a regular part of the rotation — and even those two were minor additions.
In short, the Thunder’s free agency plans were in no way impacted by the draft. But free agency likely won’t be the method by which Oklahoma City makes a splash this summer. It’s much more likely that a big roster acquisition comes via trade.
If nothing else, expect free agency to be more about the Thunder inking Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to new contracts following the strategic decision to decline both of their team options for the upcoming season.