Projecting an NBA Draft that is nearly a year away can be challenging.
With college basketball and the NBA regular season still a few months away, it’s difficult to know what teams will need at the end of the year, and how prospects will perform during the 2025 campaign.
Projecting who the Oklahoma City Thunder will target can be difficult regardless of how far the NBA Draft is away, as the team keeps its interests close to the vest and isn’t afraid to stray from consensus opinions. Now, after the team’s title run, prediciting who the team will draft is even more difficult.
Mark Daigneault’s group is stacked to the brim with talent, and there will likely be at least a few decent players who don’t get as many minutes as they could elsewhere, in OKC this year. The team’s roster doesn’t have many holes, featuring a trio of stars flanked by high-level role players.
Despite already having a loaded roster that will be attempting to incorporate even more pieces in Nikola Topic, Ajay Mitchell and Thomas Sorber over the next few years, Oklahoma City is set to own multiple first round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Of course, the Thunder could elect to trade each of its picks, but should they decide to use one, there is a prospect in the upcoming class who appears to be a solid fit with Daigneault’s group.
San Deigo State wing Miles Byrd enters his fourth year with the Aztecs after testing the NBA Draft waters in 2025. At the NBA Combine, Byrd measured 6-foot-4 and three quarters of an inch without shoes, slightly smaller than his listed height of 6-foot-7.
Despite not being as tall as SDSU’s roster would indicate, Byrd also recorded a 6-foot-10 wingspan, which could help ease any concerns about his height.
As a redshirt sophomore, the Stockton, CA, product averaged 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 38.1% from the floor and 30.1% from deep.
Byrd undoubtedly needs to improve his offensive game and be more efficient to become a reliable rotation player at the next level, but his defensive skill set is enough to garner attention from teams.
For that reason, Oklahoma City could be the perfect landing spot for Byrd. The Aztecs’ standout would give OKC another strong defender on the perimeter, allowing Byrd to focus on that part of his game rather than being an engine on offense.
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman seems to agree, pairing Byrd with the Thunder in a recent mock draft.
Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.