National Basketball Association

Oklahoma City Thunder selecting Frank Jackson would receive grade of A

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:37 p.m. ET

Fansided, Kenneth Teape/FanSided via Hoops Habit

If the Oklahoma City Thunder want to receive an A grade for the 2017 NBA Draft, ESPN's Jeff Goodman believes they should select Duke guard, Frank Jackson.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a tall task ahead of them this offseason. They have the toughest part of building a roster, landing a superstar, already done; Russell Westbrook checks off that box. Putting talent around Westbrook is another challenge.

The Thunder are still trying to figure out how to replace Kevin Durant. Durant left the Thunder last offseason in favor of the Golden State Warriors. In addition to losing Durant, the Thunder also traded away Serge Ibaka.

Oklahoma City did its best to fill the void. In exchange for Ibaka, they received guard Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and Domantas Sabonis. It was quite a haul for Ibaka, but not enough to come even close to replacing Durant.

This offseason will present an even tougher challenge for the Thunder to add talent. Westbrook, Oladipo, and Steven Adams all have their extensions kicking in at the beginning of the 2017-18 season. The Thunder have nearly $113 million in salary already on the books, and that is without Taj Gibson and Andre Roberson, both free agents.

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Retaining Gibson and Roberson will probably be a priority for the Thunder. They are both relied upon in the starting lineup and fill specific roles on the team. Both players are useful but have their flaws.

Roberson is an excellent defensive talent. That alone earns him minutes in the Thunder rotation. But, he offers virtually nothing offensively. For his career, he is a 26 percent three-point shooter. Even if he got that up to 30-33 percent it would greatly help Oklahoma City, who is desperate for help to spread the court.

Gibson is a grinder. He does the dirty work in the paint and is a solid partner for Adams. While he can excel in the midrange, he also offers nothing in the form of floor-spacing, as he has four three-pointers in his career. Also, he is getting up there in age as he will be 32 years old next week.

If the Thunder decide to bring back both Roberson and Gibson, which is likely, they will not have any money to spend in free agency. With their free agency options limited, the Thunder would have to get creative and move major pieces to add talent via that route.

One other way the Thunder could add talent to the roster is through the NBA Draft. The Thunder own the 21st pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. It will be tough to find a future star that late in the draft, but finding a useful rotation player isn't out of the realm of possibility.

The Thunder's needs are clear and they should be able to fill at least some of them with this pick. If they want to receive an A draft grade, they should look at Duke guard, Frank Jackson.

ESPN's Jeff Goodman put together a mock draft based on who teams should select to get a top grade, not trying to predict who will go where. Goodman believes the Thunder would receive an excellent grade if they snagged Jackson 21st. Here is what he had to say about the pick.

"Sam Presti needs to give Billy Donovan another scorer, and that's exactly what Jackson would be for OKC.

"While Victor Oladipo is an inconsistent shooter, Jackson can make shots from deep. He shot 40 percent from beyond the arc last season at Duke and would at least give the Thunder someone who can make things easier for Russell Westbrook on the offensive end."

Jackson has a lot of the skills that the Thunder are looking for to help improve the roster. The biggest thing that Jackson would bring to Oklahoma City is his three-point shooting.

It is no secret that the Thunder operate best when the ball is in Westbrook's hands. Surrounding him with players that can knock down perimeter jump shots would only make his job easier. He would have more open lanes to the basket as teams would not be able to slouch off shooters and clog the lane.

Standing 6'4″ inches, Jackson could play alongside Westbrook. His 6'8″ wingspan would help him defend bigger guards. North Carolina small forward Justin Jackson has been mocked to the Thunder for a while, but he went No. 11 in this mock draft to the Charlotte Hornets.

Either Jackson would be a solid addition to the Thunder. They need to find a way to help take pressure off of Westbrook on the offensive end of the court, and both would accomplish that.