Around this time of the year one can hear experts talking about the talent and bright future of the Oklahoma City Thunder, yet they only finished the season on a 23-59 record in the Western Conference. In contrast, the franchise frequently states that last season was clearly a success and it would not be long until Oklahoma is going to be in the playoff race.

As controversial as it sounds at first glance, there is indeed some truth to the view that Oklahoma might have some good years to come. Firstly, the Thunder has a very young team packed with individual talent that has yet to reach the peak of their potential. Especially franchise cornerstone Kevin Durant has been improving drastically and is on his way to become a NBA superstar. In fact, he probably would have been nominated for the All-Star game if he was playing for a team in playoff contention. Moreover, Russell Westbrook already had a phenomenal year in his rookie season 08-09 and is emerging into a reliable point guard. Considering GM Sam Presti’s strategy of trading for draft picks and cap space Oklahoma is very likely to add more talented young players this summer.

More specifically, the Thunder has two first round draft picks this year, the 3^rd and 25^th overall pick. The most obvious choice for Oklahoma would be to draft Ricky Rubio with the third pick, but it does not look like Presti is going to do that. On one hand Rubio is not expected to opt for a buy-out with Joventud Badalona to go to Oklahoma, on the other hand Russel Westbrook is the designated point guard for the next years. Thus, Oklahoma may trade down their draft pick to Sacramento or Washington to get a player like James Harden who would match their needs better as well as a veteran as part of the deal. Likewise, Presti might contemplate of trading up the 25^th pick with a team that is not interested in this year’s supposedly weak draft class and is looking to save cap-space. Either way, the audience can expect the Thunder to be very active before and after draft night as General Manager Sam Presti always seems to come up with unexpected trades that have served Oklahoma well over the past two years. Furthermore, the franchise currently has about $18 million in cap space which means that they could try to sign free agents like Trevor Ariza or Rasheed Wallace in the off-season. However, as of now everything points to Oklahoma keeping their cap space to go after a blockbuster free agent such as Chris Bosh in 2010.

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