While the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to continue their Round 2 series with the Los Angeles Lakers, there will be some appointment viewing on Sunday that could strengthen the reigning NBA champion’s future.

For another year, the Thunder will have a vested interest in the 2026 NBA draft lottery. Not because of their own draft pick, of course. But because it might be another year where an NBA franchise gifts them a lottery pick. It’s become tradition at this point as Sam Presti collected future draft capital at the start of the decade.

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The Thunder will send front office member Nick Collison to be their on-stage representative at the 2026 NBA draft lottery on Sunday, May 10. Presti will be in the actual room when the lottery results are first known.

Collison spent his entire 14-season NBA career with the Seattle Supersonics and Thunder as a role player. He’s the sole player to get their jersey retired by OKC since its 2008 relocation. Since his 2018 retirement, he’s been part of their front office.

The Thunder are guaranteed to have one lottery pick. They own the LA Clippers‘ 2026 first-round pick swap. And considering they were booted in the play-in tournament, they enter with the 12th-best odds. LA has an 86.1% chance to give OKC the No. 12 pick; a 6.7% chance at No. 13; a 2.1% chance at No. 4; a 1.9% chance at No. 3; a 1.7% chance at No. 2; a 1.5% chance at No. 1; and a 0.1% chance at No. 14.

If the Clippers give the Thunder the No. 12 pick, it wouldn’t be the first time. That’s how they landed Jalen Williams in 2022. A few years later, the Houston Rockets gifted them the exact selection again in 2024. In that class, they took Nikola Topic.

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Hoping to get back-to-back NBA championships, the rest of the league hope the Thunder don’t get the best of both worlds. They’ve reaped the benefits of other teams’ tank jobs over the years. And if it happens again, it could replenish its depth chart with another high-lottery, young talent to extend its contention window.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Nick Collison to represent OKC Thunder at 2026 NBA draft lottery