2015 NBA draft: who could the Thunder select with the 14th pick?

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Who do you draft when you have a core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka? The Thunder are in a rare position to find out.

By DHazlewood May 8, 2015, 7:00am CDT

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Coming into this season, it would have seemed improbable that the Oklahoma City Thunder would have a chance to draft an impact player to add to the already talented roster. On the last day of the season when Anthony Davis led the New Orleans Pelicans to a win against the San Antonio Spurs, the Thunder found themselves in a strange position for a team as talented as this: they were in the lottery.

The Thunder should be drafting 14th, and by 'should', I mean they have a 1.8% chance to break into the top three. The Oklahoman's Anthony Slater tweeted out the possibilities for such a leap to actually take place.

Thunder draft odds: 1st pick: 0.5% chance 2nd pick: 0.6% chance 3rd pick: 0.7% chance 14th pick: 98.2% chance
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 16, 2015

Could the Thunder end up with a top-3 pick? Sure, but let's operate under the sane assumption that the Thunder will draft 14th. So if that's the pick, what does this team really need?

Team needs:

Shooting Guard

The current rotation at the two-guard spot features a rotating panel of Dion Waiters, Andre Roberson, Anthony Morrow and Jeremy Lamb. Morrow is more of an energy/6th man/instant offense guy and not necessarily a starter. Roberson started but calling him a "shooting guard" would be like calling me a billionaire. Waiters is an enigma and Lamb never smiles. There is definite talent in this group, but if there is any one position where the Thunder could use a talent infusion, it would be at shooting guard.

Backup Point Guard

At the high end, you won't get better than Westbrook. Augustin is more than a suitable back-up, and he can even allow Westbrook to play off the ball in dual-PG lineups. That being said, many teams carry a third point guard on the roster. This player for the Thunder would most likely be Lamb or Waiters. One could make the argument that adding a point guard would be a decent addition to this team.

3-and-D Wing

This would seemingly be the ideal player, but every team wants this mold of player these days. This was the rationale behind drafting Roberson and Josh Huestis. Every team wants a Danny Green or, for those who are a bit older, Bruce Bowen. A really good article even stated that the Thunder might already have that player on their roster. One has to think that finding this player would be the goal for this draft.