Paolo Banchero is a bona fide top-three pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and must be getting ready to head to one of the three teams that occupy the top picks. The Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets will all be drafting atop the lottery, and players like Banchero will go wherever they are drafted.
Our mock draft projected Banchero to go third to the Houston Rockets, but the top three are very fluid and the exact order in which Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith Jr., and Banchero will be drafted is still uncertain. However, it looks like Banchero may want to be either the first one picked from this bunch or the last one.
In a recent interview, Banchero was talking about NBA fandom from when he was a kid. That is where he revealed he grew up as a Seattle SuperSonics fan, but the team relocated to OKC to become the Oklahoma City Thunder we know today. As a result, Banchero has never been a fan of the Thunder:
Paolo Banchero is one of us for real 🥺
“I never liked the Thunder”
Future ROCKET!#Rockets #LightTheFuse pic.twitter.com/wLzf4nUwqY
— Paulo Alves (@PauloAlvesNBA) May 30, 2022
“I grew up with the Sonics a little bit, I was six when they left, so I never liked the Thunder.”
The Seattle SuperSonics relocated and became the OKC Thunder in 2008, one year after drafting future MVP Kevin Durant. The first draft pick made by OKC was a longtime franchise cornerstone, Russell Westbrook. This is the first era of the Thunder being a non-playoff team since the relocation, but Banchero doesn’t look keen to save it.
If Paulo was drafted by OKC, he would surely respect the position and try to win for them in the short term. But whether they will get a player who will be a very long-term piece is something that everyone will question after statements like this. Either way, whichever team gets Paulo will be better off for it.
