The Oklahoma City Thunder are the defending NBA champions. It appears they will once again rely on their winning nucleus from last year significantly this season.
That is because their first round pick, center Thomas Sorber of Trenton, New Jersey, is out for the season with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament. Sorber, who played the last two seasons at Georgetown University, was selected 15th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Thunder received the 15th overall pick in the blockbuster deal they made with the Los Angeles Clippers, that saw reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario, Canada go from the Clippers to the Thunder for Paul George.
Sorber suffered the injury while working out on September 4. This past season with the Hoyas, he averaged 14.5 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game, two blocks per game, and 1.5 steals per game. Sorber had a field goal percentage of .532, a free throw percentage of .724, and three point percentage of .162.
If there is one area in Sorber’s game he needs to improve on, it is his three-point shooting. Once upon a time it was OK for centers not be great from downtown, as long as they were dominant inside the paint. Now we have seen a transformation of the center position courtesy of Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. Jokic has a career three point shooting percentage of .360, and was at .417 last season.
Staying healthy has been a problem for Thunder first round picks in recent years. In 2022, Chet Holmgren missed the season with a foot injury. Then this past season, Nikola Topic of Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro missed the entire 2024-25 season with a torn ACL.
