76ers will get OKC’s 2020 First-Round Pick after Thunder’s late win vs. Heat

OKC late win against the Miami Heat means that the 76ers will get Thunder’s pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Miami Heat on a Mike Muscala 3 with 5.2 seconds left.

The OKC win means the Sixers will get Oklahoma City’s pick in the upcoming 2020 draft. The Thunder would have kept the pick if it stayed in the top 20.

— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) August 13, 2020

Per Hoopsrumors, That selection had been top-20 protected, and the Thunder had been hovering around the league’s 10th-best record since even before the season was suspended in March. Currently, Oklahoma City is tied with Houston at 44-27, meaning the pick projects to land at either No. 23 or 24, as our reverse standings show.
If OKC loses its final seeding game on Friday against the Clippers, the pick could end up as high as No. 21. However, it can’t get to No. 20, since the Heat and Pacers (both currently 44-28) will play each other on Friday, guaranteeing that at least one of those teams will finish with a worse record than the Thunder. As such, the top-20 protection won’t apply.