It has been nearly four years since the 2019 NBA draft took place, which means plenty of time has passed to look back upon the class with proper hindsight.
The HoopsHype staff decided recently to conduct a re-draft of the class, including players that went undrafted.
As a quick reminder, the Oklahoma City Thunder were fresh off a disappointing first-round exit at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers.
The draft took place a couple of weeks before the Thunder shocked the NBA world and blew up the core headlined by Russell Westbrook and Paul George.
While the Thunder technically drafted Brandon Clarke, his rights were immediately sent to the Memphis Grizzlies. In terms of actual drafted player who ended up with the Thunder, Darius Bazley was the lone selection.
However, the Thunder did find an undrafted gem, Lu Dort, who has played his way into being a key piece of the current rebuild.
Let’s take a look at where current Thunder players went in the 2019 re-draft.
Lu Dort
- Re-draft selection: No. 7
- Real selection: Undrafted
“From undrafted to the No. 7 spot in our re-draft, Lu Dort has done a fantastic job of developing into one of the best guard defenders in the league, an energetic two-way player and a much-improved offensive player. It’s rare for an undrafted player to go Top 10 in one of our re-drafts but Dort has done more than enough already in his career to earn this distinction.”
Dort finished as the biggest riser from the exercise, jumping from an UDFA to No. 7.
Darius Bazley
- Re-draft selection: Undrafted
- Real selection: No. 23
On the flip side, Bazley was one of the highest picks not listed, going from the 23rd pick to undrafted.
