Did the OKC Thunder Steal the Best Big in the Draft?

Did the OKC Thunder Steal the Best Big in the Draft?

Is Thomas Sorber the perfect fit for the Oklahoma City Thunder? Many analysts had him pegged as the top center in the draft, but he slid all the way to pick 15 right into OKC’s hands. So, today we’re breaking down the game film to see if Sorber’s elite defense, athleticism, and paint dominance can help the Thunder run it back and go back to back. So, trust me, you don’t want to miss this. So, stick around. Monroe College. Thomas Sorber had a really good year at Georgetown last year. He got shortened by injury in February that he is still recovering from and did not play in the summer league, but he was able to use his impressive size with a 76 wingspan to both anchor down low on offense and on defense. So, without further ado, let’s see what that game film looked like. Now, I want to start off by talking about what’s going to be his most translatable skill at the NBA level, and that’s his ability to be an outlet and a finisher at the rim. Now, I wouldn’t say he’s a fantastic leaper, but you watch him and he is very quick off of his feet. He uses that long reach to his advantage, and he is really, really solid hands. Like, I was watching him catch a lot of passes that were somewhat difficult. He would rip balls away from defenders, and he’s just really adept at getting the ball, getting off his feet, and getting to the rim. Now, when you talk about how that applies to the NBA, as he takes advantage of the of the better spacing that he’s just going to get overall, it’s going to allow him to even be more efficient and play off of some really skilled guards that he has around him, especially when you talk about a pick and roll situation, which he’s going to be able to run with SGA, which is just going to allow him to operate in a space where he’s not the primary focus in that situation, and it’s a great fit. Now, next, I want to talk about him as a post-up threat. And I know before I even start getting into it, people are going to say, “Well, you know, it’s kind of a lost art and and people aren’t posting up as much anymore.” And while I tend to agree, it’s it’s not the type of play that he’s having here, it’s the way in which he’s operating that I think is a huge bow in his cap here. So, you look at him and he is really adept at burying guys and getting really sound position. So, he’s sealing his man off. He’s getting as deep as he can and it seems like his goal in that part of his game is to just get the guy on his back and give himself as easy a finish as possible. And I think when you translate that to the NBA game where he’s going to get a lot of switches, especi especially off of pick and roll and ball screen actions, he’s going to get some mismatches. And when that happens, I think just using his natural size and strength and sealing guys off is just going to allow him to get some garbage points that he otherwise wouldn’t. So, for that reason, I I do like this part. Now, I want to transition into an area I think he could really grow, and that’s his ability to stretch the floor a little bit and take what the defense gives him. Now, I know a lot of you are going to look at his stats and you’re going to see that he shot on the whole about 16% last year from three and think that I’m crazy uh and say he’s a horrible jump shooter, which you know he maybe he is, but when you start to dig into the stats just a little bit more and you look at his unguarded three-point attempts, so on only 14 attempts, which is a small sample, he shot 35 36% from three. Now, I don’t think the shot is incredibly bad. But I think there are some mechanical tweaks that will definitely help him out. But I think when you watch him in these clips operate on the perimeter, he has a natural feel for it. He’s able to slide into open positions. He’s able to to operate off ball and make movements as it relates to what the ball is doing away from him that a lot of bigs don’t do that well. So I think when you couple the fact that he he does show some promise in being able to shoot the ball when left wide open and also operate within the context of an offense, it gives you hope and some room for optimism. And I think if he can make that step, then his ceiling is raised significantly. Now, as we shift our focus onto the defensive end of the court, we’re going to look at the first skill that really had Scouts trooing, and that’s his ability to protect the rim. Now, what I love most from watching these clips is as you watch through them, notice that just like on the dunks, he’s not an elite leaper. like he’s not someone that’s chasing someone down, skying up for the block. But what he does exceptionally well is he beats his man to the spot, seals them off, and then plays with a level of verticality that you don’t see many 19-year-olds playing with. He has a very good feel for his size and his length, and he knows how to contest without fouling. It’s shown and proven in the numbers. I think he had almost a block per foul, which is a really good number in the college basketball world. And also he he can move his arms. A lot of guys when they stay vertical can’t swat, but he can stay vertical until he knows he can get to the ball and then swat the shot. This is an elite trait for him and he could be a a really good pro here. Now, the last part of film that I want to show you is his ability to switch on the perimeter and still stick with guards. Similar to the conversation that we had on blocks, he’s able to move his feet well enough to where he can beat his man to the spot kind of, but just stay relatively competitive and contest the shot. Even on jump shots at the rim, on all three levels, I feel like he can do this reasonably well. My area of concern, if I’m being honest, is I don’t know that this translates one to one from college to the NBA level. I think there’s some room where he could be exposed against quicker, more athletic guards and forwards that he might get switched against, but overall this is something that I think gives him the ability to play more than you might expect as a rookie. So, as we move into my final thoughts on Thomas Sorber and why I like this fit so much for the OKC Thunder, it really boils down to a few things for me. First and foremost, I I feel like had he not gotten injured at Georgetown, he would have been a significantly higher pick than he was. I think a lot of analysts, like we saw that tweet in the intro graphic, view him as the top rated big in this draft, and it’s not hard to see why. Now, anecdotally, why I think this is a good fit is OKC like to play big. They did so through the majority of last regular season. They have a lot of pieces at their disposal. Um, but then when the playoffs came around, they had to adapt and they had to change their most frequently used lineups uh as they got deeper into the playoffs and had to adjust and and defend a little more stringently. Uh, and I think that Sorber has some of those traits that will allow them to maintain their play style on offense while also having some of that size on defense that’s a little more flexible and can pair with Chet Homegrren nicely and allow him those two maybe to play and close out some games against teams that want to spread the floor and do things a little differently. Now, as we look at Sorber himself and and why folks are so high on him as a defensive anchor, you start to look at some of these stats right here, uh, and it’s really not hard to see why everyone’s so high on him, especially when you look at that defensive, uh, player rating. I mean, he is close to double uh, the player rating of the next highest person on his team. a 4.19 on Evan Mia’s system is incredibly high uh and puts him in a very very elite category of defensive player and and I boil that down to a lot of what I said on the defensive side of the ball is that he knows his body really well. He knows his athleticism and he he he plays with a level of verticality that’s very hard to teach and instill into some of these younger players. So you factor that in with the fact that after he got injured, Georgetown completely different team defensively. So I mean, you’re looking at I I think the exact number was 14 or 15 points on a team defensive rating difference, which is massive and and shows that they were much worse uh defensive team without him out there. And that’s just because you can base so much of what you do around him. you can funnel things towards him and and on the NBA level I think that gets downgraded slightly to be fair, but I still think it’s such an enormous piece. Now, it’s always, you know, that that time of the episode where I ask Oklahoma City fans for feedback. Where am I right on this? Where am I a little bit off? Let me know. I would absolutely love just to have some dialogue in the comments section. Uh what do you think Sorber’s impact is going to be as a rookie? I’m curious. You guys know the rotation probably better than I do. So, do you think he plays a ton? Do you think he has to get eased into minutes? I know he’s coming off of an injury. What are your thoughts there? Uh, like I said, drop a comment. Let’s have a discussion down below in there. If you if you would like to, I welcome you to subscribe to the channel. We do a lot of NBA content, college basketball, transfer portal news. Uh, so be aware of when those things come out. Suggest what you want. Be a part of my content schedule. I I also welcome that. send me a direct message if you want to. But I appreciate all of you guys being here. Uh I love doing this. I love having you around. And I hope to see you on the next one.

Is Thomas Sorber the next big piece in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s championship puzzle?

Projected by many analysts as the best true center in the 2025 NBA Draft, Sorber fell to OKC at pick #15 — and that may be the league’s biggest mistake. In this video, we break down the game film on Sorber, from his elite rim protection and post dominance to his underrated offensive feel and NBA-ready frame.

With a 7’6” wingspan, standout stats from Georgetown, and advanced defensive instincts, Sorber might just be the perfect complement to Chet Holmgren in OKC’s evolving frontcourt.

🔍 We analyze:

How he fits next to SGA, Chet, and OKC’s core

What the film shows about his ceiling as a rim protector and finisher

Why his game may be even more dangerous in NBA spacing

👇 Let us know in the comments:

Should Sorber start as a rookie?

Can he be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate down the line?

📈 Subscribe for more NBA Draft analysis, rookie breakdowns, and college film sessions.

⏱️ Chapters:
0:00 – Intro: Thunder’s Perfect Pick?
0:27 – Sorber’s 2024 Season at Georgetown
0:46 – Finishing at the Rim (Pick-and-Roll + Catch Radius)
1:42 – Post-Up Power: Deep Seals & Easy Buckets
2:37 – Floor Spacing Potential & Shooting Mechanics
3:48 – Defensive Anchor: Elite Rim Protection IQ
4:42 – Switchability & Guarding the Perimeter
5:27 – Final Thoughts: Why the Fit in OKC Makes Sense
6:43 – Defensive Metrics & Impact at Georgetown
8:01 – Thunder Fans Sound Off!

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