NBA Draft 2021: Final projections of first 30 draft selections

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 20: Scottie Barnes #4 of the Florida State Seminoles dribbles against Isaiah Miller #1 of the UNC-Greensboro Spartans during the first half in the first round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 20, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

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NBA Draft Scottie Barnes Florida State Seminoles (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

player. 149. . Power Forward. Oklahoma City Thunder. Scottie Barnes. 6

OKC finds itself in an unfamiliar place in the lottery. The Thunder started their rebuild process this year under new franchise player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and had a dismal 22-50 record, the franchise worse in 12 years.

OKC does have a plan to return to contention soon with a multitude of draft picks over the next five years. And I think the best fit here at 6 would be Barnes.

Barnes is a very active player on the defensive end of the floor. He is very versatile on the defensive end of the floor and Florida State used him to guard guards at the top key and big men on the block.

Barnes also brings a unique skill set on offense as he ran a lot of point guard for FSU and makes wonderful decisions, rarely turning the ball over. Besides playmaking, Barnes is very raw offensively and needs to develop a jump shot. As he shot only 29% from three this year at FSU.

The Thunder have a nice young core already with Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley, and Theo Maledon.

Adding Barnes here would give the Thunder another nice piece to their young core. Some analysts have Barnes ceiling as a Draymond Green type of player. This would be a very nice piece to place around your franchise player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

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