Thunder get another scary 1st-round pick thanks to Warriors, Steph Curry

Thunder get another scary 1st-round pick thanks to Warriors, Steph Curry originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder might get even better this offseason.

That's in part because they've got a first-round pick in the NBA Draft lottery. Of course, it's not OKC's pick, as they're the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

It's the Los Angeles Clippers' pick. It could've ended up outside the lottery if the Clippers propelled themselves from the play-in tournament into the actual playoffs.

But since the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry knocked the Clippers out on Wednesday night, the first-rounder will have either the 11th- or 12th-best lottery odds.

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It's a first-round pick holdover from the Paul George trade that has already been such a win for the Thunder.

That deal sent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Oklahoma City, which would've been a trade win by itself.

It also included the first-round pick that became rising star Jalen Williams.

And now it comes down to this final lottery pick to determine the full outcome.

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It looked for a while like this pick would be even higher in the lottery odds, because the Clippers had a horrific start to the season. They turned it around to at least make the play-in, which prevents Oklahoma City from too high of odds of getting an absurdly high pick in a stacked draft class.