The Rich Get Richer: Bradley Beal Is Now Out For The Season And The Oklahoma City Thunder Just So Happen To Own The Clippers’ Unprotected First Round Pick

There’s an everyday saying that I’m sure you’ve heard a time or two before at some point in your life

“The rich get richer”

In the NBA world, I could not think of a more perfect description for what’s currently taking place with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

For starters, they’re 11-1, have an even better point differential (+14.4) than their historic differential last year (+12.9), SGA is as unstoppable as ever, Chet just went 9-9 in a blowout win over GS, their depth pieces are all taking internal leaps, and so far they very clearly appear to be a cut above the rest of the NBA. 

So how does “the rich get richer” apply to them just 12 games into their season? 

It starts with the news we got today coming out of LA in regards to Bradley Beal

Think what you want about Beal as a player at this stage of his career, but this is still a pretty massive blow to the Clippers. It’s not that Bradley Beal is bad, he was just on a bad contract. The production didn’t match the value. But for 2/$10M, that’s flipped. Given the shooting they lost with Norm Powell’s departure, Beal was a pretty important piece of that puzzle which is now gone for the year.

How does this apply to the Thunder? Well, remember the Paul George trade? Remember how part of that trade package included an unprotected 2026 first round pick? Guess what year we’re in.

As things stand today, the Clippers and their aging roster are 3-7 and currently outside of the Play In, which means they own a Lottery pick…..only they don’t really own it. No matter where it finishes, the Clippers owe that 2026 pick to OKC. So, a team with an injured Kawhi (ankle), an injured Beal (out for season), and James Harden that plays in the super competitive Western Conference does not control their own pick. Feels like that’s a team destined for the Lottery, does it not?

So yeah, in a Draft that many considered loaded with franchise-altering talents in the top 7 and a bunch of awesome players in the top 10, OKC is sitting in a prime position to add one of those guys via the Clippers. 

The thing is…..there’s more.

To help paint this picture, go ahead and take a look at the entire draft situation and tell me what you see

We just talked about the Clippers pick, but do you see what also exists with pick #10? If that pick falls outside of 1-8, the Jazz are sending that pick to OKC as well (Derrick Favors salary dump). My guess is we’ll see the Jazz start to really commit to the tank at some point to try and prevent that, but the Lottery can be a real motherfucker. There’s a real chance that Jazz pick also goes to OKC, and now you’re talking about two top 10 picks being added to this OKC roster.

Again, we’re not done. How about that Philly pick at the 21 spot? That’s only protected picks 1-4 (Al Horford trade). At the moment, the Sixers look good enough to the point where that shouldn’t be a Lottery team, but it’s a long season. Even if it isn’t a pick in the Lottery, you’re now talking about potentially a mid-1st round pick to either keep or flip. That’s ammo that you definitely want to have in this new CBA world.

Same thing with the HOU pick. That’s also only protected 1-4. The Rockets barring something insane shouldn’t be in the Lottery, but it’s once again another potential trade chip/cheap first round talent to add to this already stacked roster. 

Essentially, OKC gets the 2 best picks between OKC/HOU/LAC (Wizards get the worst one) plus PHI’s if it’s outside the top 4. Something tells me OKC won’t be keeping their own pick instead of owning HOU/LAC, but that’s just me. 

So just add it all up.

– Defending Champion

– Easy the best team in the league right now and their 2nd best player hasn’t even played yet

– Own an unprotected pick from a team that looks destined for the Lottery

– Own three more lightly protected 1sts in what is being described as a deep draft

Sam Presti, take a goddamn bow.

While part of this required things outside of his control, that’s sort of the point of accumulating assets. It’s the Danny Ainge Special. Nobody knows what will happen over the course of an NBA season, so all you’re looking for are bites at the apple. They needed things like the Clippers being bad to happen, and it’s happened. In 2025, they were able to use their pick swap with MIA to get into the 15th spot and draft Thomas Sorber. This is how you sustain your success despite all your core players being on max deals. 

Not only that, but OKC also owns DEN’s 2027 1st (1-5 protected), can swap with LAC for their 2027 1st, a 1-16 protected Spurs 1st in 2027, and now the kicker….

OKC has the right to swap their 2028 1st round pick with the Dallas Mavericks. How do we think that pick will look in 2028 given their dumpster fire situation right now?

So yeah, at the moment the Thunder are the very definition of the rich getting richer, and all you can do is tip your cap. Sam Presti had a vision, executed it, accumulated as many assets as he could, and now many of those assets could very well finish in the Lottery. That’s about as good as it gets when it comes to team building and sustaining your dominance.