Rumor: OKC Thunder Trying To Get No. 3 Pick From Cavaliers

 

The NBA Draft is just hours away, and teams continue to jockey for position. Reports today have the Oklahoma City Thunder making a last-minute move to try to grab the No. 3 spot from the Cleveland Cavaliers, in order to select Evan Mobley. 

Now we’re hearing a lot more chatter about a Thunder-Cavs trade for the No. 3 pick, which would allow OKC to select Evan Mobley, @johnhollinger writes.

The Thunder have the assets. How badly do they want to move up?https://t.co/DtPgPPv4HQ

— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) July 29, 2021

The Athletic is reporting that the Thunder are willing to use some of their massive stockpile of future draft picks, including this year's No. 6, and even young star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to lure the Cavs into trading down. 

The addition of SGA could make a deal like this hard to resist. As John Hollinger notes, "what are the odds of the second or third pick in the draft actually turning out to be better than Gilgeous-Alexander?"

The Thunder have already tried this tactic on the Detroit Pistons to try to pry the No. 1 pick away, now their focus seems to be on Cleveland. 

The consensus order of the top of the draft, at this point, seems to be No. 1 Cade Cunningham (Detroit), No. 2 Jalen Green (Houston), No. 3 Evan Mobley (Cleveland).  

That seems to be where the certainty stops, as there is genuine confusion over whether the Toronto Raptors at No. 4 will be selecting Jalen Suggs or Scottie Barnes. 

Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports