Despite finishing the season with a 60-22 record and another Northwest Division title the Oklahoma City Thunder hold the rights to the twelve overall selection come draft day. This pick comes courtesy of the Toronto Raptors via the Houston Rockets for the Kyle Lowry deal.

This is quite an enviable position for a team that many viewed as being a championship contender. The championship run got derailed as Russell Westbrook suffered a torn meniscus and was lost for the playoffs. The injury highlighted Westbrook’s importance to the Thunder but also underlined their lack of depth in the roster.

With Kevin Durant, Westbrook and Serge Ibaka all under contract through the 2015-16 season, the nucleus of the team will remain intact. The odd man out in this equation seems to be Kendrick Perkins who has two years remaining on a contract that is set to pay him $8.4 million followed by $9.1 million.

This sets Perkins up to be a victim of the amnesty clause as his 4.2 ppg and 6.0 rpg averages are woeful and certainly not worthy of such a fat contract. If there was any lingering doubt among Thunder executives about how to handle Perkins this offseason, his dismal playoff performance where he committed 39 fouls and scored only 24 points likely cemented the decision.

Areas of Weakness

It is hard for the Thunder to improve on either their offensive or defensive efficiency as they were the top-ranked offense and the fourth-ranked defense. What is needed is a low-block scoring threat and some added depth to their bench. Free-agent Kevin Martin will likely return at a much discounted rate; however, he alone does not provide enough punch to the second unit.

Draft Projections

A solid replacement for Perkins and an added scoring threat for the Thunder would be Mason Plumlee from Duke University. This four-year college player has shown steady improvement through his college career. He averaged double figure points per game in each of his four season and he benefited from the best coaching available in the college ranks. Plumlee is a big-bodied guy who measured 7’0” tall with a 9’0” standing reach. He can score as evidenced by his 17.1 ppg average last season and he rebounds well; 9.9 rpg last year. Plumlee would be a much cheaper and more productive low-post option than Perkins.

Another big-man who could potentially tweak the Thunder’s interest is Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk is another polished athlete who appears ready to step into the NBA and be a contributor. I’m not as sold on his skill set as many; however, he should still be a lottery selection and the Thunder may value his smooth shooting touch and ball-handling skills over that of a traditional low post player. The knock on Olynyk thus far has been his slightly shorter standing reach and his unimpressive vertical jump. The guy is still a legit seven-footer and let’s face it when you are seven feet who needs to jump. Seriously though, the same knocks were on Emeka Okafor when he came out and he is now an NBA veteran.