Thanks to the Los Angeles Clippers losing their play-in game to the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder received a second lottery pick in this years NBA Draft. A “lottery” pick means a pick that is one of the first 14 in the draft, usually where the top college prospects are found and drafted. This year, the Thunder should have around the fourth pick, via their own record from this season, and somewhere around the twelfth pick via the Clippers. So the question remains: Does this fortunate outcome signal the end of tanking for the Thunder?

The Thunder have the pieces that they need to be a playoff contending team. They had a really good draft last year and picked up some quality players. I believe that this team is better than what their record has conveyed in recent years given the fact that they have been trying to lose in order to get better draft picks. A young core of guards that features Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Tre Mann and Lu Dort are all solid pieces to build a team around for the future.

If there is an area where the Thunder is lacking, it’s in the four and five spot. The four spot is typically a forward or a power forward and the five is generally a center. The Thunder really doesn’t have a quality big man at either of those positions. The position has kind of been open ever since the departure of Steven Adams. This area is definitely where the Thunder needs to be focused heading into this draft.

Which is why I believe the Thunder needs to go a little all in this year and try to move up as close to the number one pick as they can get. I think a guy like Paolo Banchero out of Duke would be the best player that the Thunder could get in this years draft. He fits exactly what the Thunder needs standing at 6′ 10″ and 250 pounds. The only issue with Paolo is that he is projected to be a top three pick in the draft this year. So if the Thunder do fall into the four spot, they would be on the outside looking in for Banchero.

This is why Sam Presti needs to package some picks together and try to move up in the draft to get Paolo. The Thunder is missing one piece that could vault them back into Playoff contention. Banchero is that piece. And the fact of the matter is that Presti has a plethora of picks in his back pocket that he can bundle together. He doesn’t even have to throw a current Thunder player into a trade to sweeten the deal. Over the next five years, the Thunder have a combined 36 total draft picks, 19 first round and 17 second round. 36!!! The reality is that even if the Thunder kept all of these picks and used them, they wouldn’t be able to keep all of the players because a NBA roster can’t be 36 players deep. So Presti needs to get his money’s worth out of those picks and put them to good use.

Granted, all of this is dependent on what draft position the Thunder fall into on Draft Lottery Night. Luck could really be on the Thunder’s side and they could be slotted into a top three pick by way of the lottery ping-pong balls. However, given the history of the lottery, this is unlikely. It is more likely for a team to actually fall back in the projected draft order than to move up in the lottery. Which is why a trade will likely be necessary if the Thunder want to improve their draft position. This will all be answered on May 17th when the draft lottery is held in Chicago.

I can’t think of a better year than this year for the Thunder to make a trade and move up in the draft. The pieces for a really good team are already here, minus one more. This is the year to get that final piece. The light at the end of the tanking tunnel is drawing closer. It’s now up to Sam Presti to make that final push and drive Thunder fans out of the tunnel and back into the light.