Just like that, the basketball world has shifted its focus to the offseason. The New York Knicks will have their moment in the sun as NBA champions, but the rest of the league is ready to play catch-up this summer. The first step to doing that is the 2026 NBA draft.
The two-day event is a little over a week away. It’s the one time franchises everywhere can inject their roster with some youth. That includes the Oklahoma City Thunder. They finished five wins shy of another Larry O’Brien trophy and will return to square one.
Heading into this year’s draft cycle, the Thunder have three draft picks. Let’s take a look at some of the best options at the No. 17 pick:
Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky
Probably the riskiest prospect, Quaintance would be a bet on the future. Not much you can really take away from his college tape. He played for one year at Arizona State before transferring to Kentucky. Alas, injuries limited his time with a torn meniscus and torn ACL. He only played in four games with the Wildcats. So, not much you can take away from his actual performances for nearly a calendar year. That’s scary in itself. On top of all the leg injuries he’s already suffered at just 18 years old.
If you’re the Thunder, you’re betting on upside. Quaintance has elite measurements at 6-foot-10, 255 pounds. He’s a tank. And considering how young he is, the runway for improvement is endless. The defense is the selling point. He can bang down low with NBA centers right now. That’s the side of the ball where he can help from the jump. On offense, it’s a work in progress. The shooting is nonexistent. Most of his buckets will come off assists. He still needs to learn the nuances of being a rim-runner, but his physicality should help him finish through contact around the rim.
Dailyn Swain, Texas
To play at the NBA level, you need to be great on both ends. These next few crops of prospects have shown that. Swain is another example. He played in three collegiate seasons. His first two were at Xavier before being in Texas last year. There, he broke out as a Longhorn. He averaged 17.3 points on 54.2% shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He shot 34.4% from 3 on 2.6 attempts. He also tallied 1.6 steals. The 20-year-old feels like a safe pick who could contribute to a winning team.
Expected to go around this range, Swain is another ball-handler the Thunder could add to their roster. At 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, he is plus-size for a guard. The rebound numbers also suggest that. You might even sneak him into some forward minutes at that build. The outside shooting is a question mark. The low volume suggests it might not be real, despite the decent percentage. But the rest of his game is well-rounded enough to work with him on that.
Allen Graves, Santa Clara
At this point, Santa Clara has become a nice little pipeline for NBA players in recent years. First, Jalen Williams. Then, Brandin Podziemski. Now, Graves. Granted, he’s one of the more polarizing prospects, where his range is literally anywhere in the first round. He averaged 11.8 points on 51.2% shooting, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his sole season on the Broncos. He shot 41.3% from 3 on 2.6 attempts. He also had 1.9 steals. Not the greatest athlete, but he showed he can contribute to winning basketball at the small school.
In recent years, the Thunder have found a market in small-school prospects. Graves could be the latest addition. His stats are pretty impressive for a 19-year-old on a winning program, but looking slow on tape has some folks hesitant about his upside. The shooting is also another unknown. He shot at a decent percentage, but on an extremely small sample. You don’t know how that’ll translate at the NBA level. He’d be one of the riskier picks, but mostly because his game isn’t really super dynamic. It’s a little boring, if I’m being blunt.
Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
If you’re a box-score sicko, Philon Jr. is your guy. He had one of the biggest jumps from his first to second year at Alabama. He averaged 22 points on 50.1% shooting, five assists and 3.5 rebounds. He shot 39.9% from 3 on 6.2 attempts. The 20-year-old took the brunt of the Crimson Tide’s offense. Not only was the volume increase impressive, but his efficiency actually improved too, with a bigger workload. Say what you want about raw college production and how much it matters in the evaluation process, but his numbers pop off the screen for the right seasons.
Now, the concerns involve Philon Jr.’s build. At 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, he’s pretty small for a guard. It also remains to be seen how effective he’d be in a downsized role as an NBA bench player. Maybe he can add more muscle later on, but the early returns will be a young guard struggling to stay on the floor. The Thunder would have their work cut out for them to make him into a salvageable defender. And maybe OKC simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to do that. But man, those shooting numbers, though.
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Initially playing overseas in Germany, Steinbach has the unique experience of already knowing how a business-oriented basketball league works. He spent one year at Washington. He averaged 18.5 points on 57.7% shooting, 11.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He also had 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals. The 20-year-old showed he’s ready for the NBA and a pit stop with the Huskies was just made out of necessity.
Putting up a double-double at the college level is always a plus for your resume. And averaging over a block and steal shows unicorn-esque defensive versatility. At 6-foot-10, 248 pounds, Steinbach is ready to play forward minutes from the jump. I guess the only concerns are his nonexistent shooting. But that doesn’t matter if you’re simply a roll man and play-finisher. The Thunder should welcome size in their frontcourt. He’d help with that.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 2026 NBA draft big board: Who makes sense for OKC Thunder at No. 17?
