Thunder linked to player drawing comparisons to Jabari Smith Jr. originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For the Oklahoma City Thunder long term, it'll be interesting to see which direction Sam Presti wants to go in. He obviously has a slew of picks because of all the trades he's made, but the Thunder are now in a position where they might have to move on from some of those picks.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report currently has them with five picks in the first 37 picks of the 2026 NBA Draft, and the harsh reality is that the Thunder can't go out and add five rookies to the roster. The unfortunate part of the NBA nowadays is that it just isn't a thing for contending teams.
Despite that, some of them can also stay in the G League, or they could look to move on from them. Regardless of what they want to do, there's obviously a path to move on from players and add others.
Wasserman recently had them selecting Chris Cenac Jr., a power forward out of the University of Houston, with the No. 16 pick.
“Chris Cenac Jr. has been productive and efficient by finishing plays and knocking down jumpers. The 6'11" size, athleticism at the rim and shotmaking create a perceived easy fit and high floor. He's hitting fallaways from the post and rhythm threes.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“The lack of defensive playmaking and passing just make it tougher to picture pathways to upside. Scouts may start to question how strongly he'll impact games if he's not shooting well,” he wrote.
Cenac is big, standing at 6-foot-11 and 240 pounds. Wasserman compared him to Jabari Smith Jr. of the Houston Rockets, which could be a nice fit as he can shoot the basketball and make plays at the rim.
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