ESPN calls Thunder's decision not to draft Alperen Sengun their worst mistake of 2020s

USA Today

4 days ago

Nobody bats 1.000 in the NBA. If you're lucky enough to be the head decision-maker, you'll stomach through some misses with roster construction. That was the premise of ESPN's Zack Kram's recent piece.
Kram went through every team's receipts to see their biggest mistake made in the 2020s. At the halfway mark of the decade, enough time has passed to properly judge recent moves. For context, all of the moves mentioned were brought up in retrospect.
That means even if the deal made sense at the time, how it's aged matters most. If the thought process was criticized at the time, that's just bonus points to paint how badly a front office missed.
Fresh off an NBA championship, the Oklahoma City Thunder don't have many moves to heavily hate on. They had one of the greatest seasons ever built on mostly homegrown talent. For those who were brought in, it was savvy offseason moves.
That said, Kram bundled a group of draft trades that didn't work out for the Thunder. Considering the rich draft capital they've had for the decade, misses are bound to happen. Especially for an aggressive front office. You're guaranteed at least one NBA draft deal by Sam Presti.
"Three draft deals reflect Presti's all-too-human fallibility," Kram wrote. "In 2020, he dealt the No. 25 and 28 picks for No. 17, thereby giving away future starters Immanuel Quickley and Jaden McDaniels, while bringing Aleksej Pokusevski to Oklahoma City."
That's fair. The Thunder were in the infancy stages of their rebuild. It was all about taking huge swings of upside. That's what Pokusevski provided. The 18-year-old was extremely raw but had interesting tools. Injuries and inconsistent play stalled anything from being materialized, though. He's been out of the league for a year now.
"In 2021, he traded up from No. 36 to No. 32, reaching for Jeremiah Robinson-Earl instead of being content with useful backup Miles McBride," Kram continued. "Worst of all, also in 2021, Presti traded No. 16 pick Alperen Sengun — a European prospect who, unlike Pokusevski, panned out — to Houston for two future picks, which he used a year later in a package for Ousmane Dieng."
There's been talk about the Sengun trade since the day it happened. He's turned into a one-time All-Star, but his playoff limitations this past year showed he's better off being a second-option or third-option. That's why the Rockets traded for Kevin Durant.
And even if you want to call the Sengun trade a miss, it didn't really sting the Thunder. They added Chet Holmgren a year later with the No. 2 pick of the 2022 NBA draft. He's turned into one of the best defensive players in the league and was the third-best player on an NBA champion.
Getting signed to a five-year, $250 million extension this offseason also validated the Thunder's decision to pass up on Sengun. He's a nice player, but not the type of player you really lose sleep over. Especially after you captured the Larry O'Brien trophy last month.