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It is only fitting to reflect on the teams’ journeys to the NBA Finals, which are scheduled to commence on Thursday. They earned this opportunity at NBA immortality not because of the three teams they defeated in the playoffs, but because of the lineups they assembled. After reviewing the Indiana Pacers, let’s take a closer look at the Oklahoma City Thunder. Advertisement To start, it’s important to note that the Thunder’s approach to team construction is among the most unconventional in the league’s annals. While relying on the draft to construct has been standard practice for decades, their approach was so amplified that it gained its own identity. The easiest way to illustrate how general manager Sam Presti went about this task is to image any random mobile game that you pull out on the bus home. Our acquaintances are familiar with them. The more time you spend on them, the more gems or digital cash you gain to attain new goals. That’s Presti and draft picks, but in real life. There is literally a non-zero chance that Presti somehow got two firsts and five seconds as this piece was being typed out. As a matter if fact, OKC possesses 11 first-round picks through 2030. Advertisement But, of course, regardless of how many picks a team has, you still need a crown treasure, and strangely Presti had to travel outside the organization to find it. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports illustration) (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports illustration) The Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & Jalen Williams transaction When Kawhi Leonard visited with the Los Angeles Clippers in the summer of 2019, he made one thing abundantly clear: The only way he was signing there, was if the Clippers signed another star to come along with him. The Clippers, sensing the potential of acquiring Leonard, obliged and picked Paul George as the perfect running mate. They sought out to Oklahoma City, which was in no rush to pivot off George, a top-three vote-getter in both MVP and DPOY that year. Advertisement As such, Presti set his price, and the Clippers went all-in. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari were the players sent out, and what followed was one of the most aggressive draft-pick swaps of all-time. Five first-round selections, as well as two swaps, were relinquished. The 2021 and 2023 firsts came via Miami, which were picks previously obtained by Los Angeles. The Clippers also gave up their own first-round selections in 2022, 2024 and 2026. Finally, the Clippers incorporated swap options in 2021 and 2025. The acquisition of Gilgeous-Alexander turned into a franchise-altering decision, as the high-scoring Canadian became a three-time All-NBA player and claimed his first league MVP accolade this season. Advertisement As for the 2022 selection … it evolved into Williams, who became an All-Star and made All-NBA in his third season and is arguably the second-best player on the team. The pieces around them Before drafting Williams at No. 12 in 2022, the Thunder had just finished a 24-58 season and won the second overall pick in the draft that year. They invested that pick on Chet Holmgren, who has turned the Thunder into a three-star club (we’ll cover this a bit later), with the franchise now having a star at the guard, at the wing and at a large position— a positional star breakdown every team in the league covets. Advertisement In 2019, the Thunder identified Lu Dort, an undrafted 6-foot-3 weirdo of a player who wasn’t exactly a guard and wasn’t quite a wing, but something in between. After going undrafted, he was signed to a two-way deal and has since matured into a starter who’s in Year 6 with the team and is one of the most effective bullying defenders in the league. Cason Wallace, a 2023 first-round selection, was initially drafted by Dallas. The Thunder traded for him, giving up their own selection (Dereck Lively) and Dāvis Bertāns in the process. Wallace is a vital two-way role player, who played over 27 minutes per game in the regular season and is currently playing over 22 minutes per game in the postseason. Advertisement Just last year, OKC added to its undrafted-defender war chest when it peeled away Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls, ceding previous lottery pick Josh Giddey, who couldn’t even remain on the floor in the playoffs. Caruso is now the Thunder’s greatest perimeter defender and one of their best connectors. That same summer they went out and paid big on Isaiah Hartenstein, concluding that big-man depth was of huge importance, especially as Holmgren is more of a finesse defender than a physical one. Those are really their major pieces, but two more names are worth noticing. Isaiah Joe was waived by the Sixers in 2022, and the Thunder scooped him up just three days later, discovering his plug-and-play qualities. Joe is now the Thunder’s best guard shooter and is earning over $12 million per year. Advertisement Finally, Aaron Wiggins was a late second-round pick in 2021 whom the Thunder brought along slowly. He’s now one of their greatest offensive wings and can be used in numerous lineups.