The Oklahoma City Thunder cleaned up in the 2022 NBA Draft class, a late June affair that set the foundation for the Thunder’s title run in 2025. The big steal of the draft was nabbing All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams with the No. 12 pick that season after grabbing rising star Chet Holmgren with the second pick that night. Add in key reserve Jaylin Williams and a lottery flyer pick on Ousmane Dieng, and you get Sam Presti’s best class in his illustrious career.
Now, four drafts removed from that night, it is popular to re-draft the set of prospects, knowing what we do now. That is exactly what ESPN’s The Hoop Collective did on Friday. The podcast of Brian Windhorst, Tim Bontemps and Tim McMahon took turns acting as General Managers to retroactively get the draft right.
The Oklahoma City Thunder saw two players land in the top three of this re-draft, including the Santa Clara product taking top billing.
“I am going to go off the board a little bit with the first overall pick, I am going to take Jalen Williams,” Tim Bontemps said before Tim McMahon chimed in, “What’s what I would’ve done!”
“The guy just scored 40 in an NBA Finals game with a wrist he got an injection in about 9,000 times. He had a tremendous playoffs. We spent all year talking about whether he could be good enough as the second perimeter scorer behind Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] to get them over the line. He is a tremendous two-way player, made an All-NBA team this year. I can certainly understand why someone would pick [Orlando Magic Forward] Paolo [Banchero] as a 6-foot-10 guy with the package he has offensively. But, when you look at the modern NBA, the thing you need more than anything else is two-way wing play,” Bontemps explained.
Bontemps makes a great point. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While this topic has been divisive among the two faithful fanbases, the reality is it comes down to personal preference and team need.
It is fair to point out Banchero is not playing next to a superstar such as Gilgeous-Alexander. However, his skillset would also not compliment a star the way Williams’ does. The defensive ability, the off-ball play finishing mixed with his time to log high usuage minutes makes the Santa Clara product a glove-like fit for Oklahoma City. While the Duke product serves a big need for Orlando as a no. 1 option. Though, we have never seen Williams take the mantle as the no. 1 option in Oklahoma City for an extended stretch perhaps the expected dip is vastly overblown as his ability to score at all three levels does translate to the top billing in the moments we have seen it happen throughout his short career.
“He is an All-Defense selection, he is also an All-NBA player. The only player in his draft that has an All-NBA honor…He has proven that he can be the No. 2 guy on a championship team. He has proven that he can get better…I don’t think he is done getting drastically better. I would’ve taken him No. 1 overall as well,” McMahon said.
While both players have a high ceiling still even three seasons removed from Draft night, Williams’ starting point being with a championship, All-NBA honor and All-Defensive spot in the bag already sets him up nicely to make this take age very well.
Still having Holmgren in the top three is the right call. The Gonzaga product is one of the best –– if not the best –– defender in the NBA. His offensive upside remains as a potentially lethal shooter, a nice play-finisher off the catch alongside the scoring gravity of Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander and there have been no short of flashes throughout his career.
In the nine games (small sample size) prior to his hip fracture last season, Holmgren averaged 18.2 points, 2.2 assists, 9.2 rebounds, 2.9 blocks, a steal and got to the free throw line a jaw-dropping 5.4 times a night turning in 52/40/77 shooting splits.
Jun 23, 2022; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number two overall pick by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder (Real Pick: Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic)Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic (Real Pick: Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder) Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder.(Real Pick: Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets)Christian Braun, Denver Nuggets (Real Pick: Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings) Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets (Real Pick: Jaden Ivey, Detroit Pistons) Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings (Real Pick: Benn Mathurin, Indiana Pacers) Walker Kessler, Utah Jazz (Real Pick: Shaedon Sharpe, Portland Trail Blazers) Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks (Real Pick: Dyson Daniels, New Orleans Pelicans) Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers (Real Pick: Jeremy Sochan, San Antonio Spurs)Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons (Real Pick: Johnny Davis, Washington Wizards)
There is no denying that the Oklahoma City Thunder had an A+ grade in the 2022 NBA Draft, and the further you go down the board re-ranking players, it is evident they got a better than average result for each pick outside of Dieng.
.@TimBontemps & @espn_macmahon on why they both would have chosen Jalen Williams #1 in a 2022 NBA re-draft over Paolo Banchero ⬇️ https://t.co/TI8rKEJjMm pic.twitter.com/a6h9khOfSG
— ESPN Podcasts (@espnpodcasts) August 16, 2025