Building an NBA champion through mostly player development, you can’t rest on your accomplishments. The Oklahoma City Thunder understand they must remain sharp in that regard or risk the rest of the league eventually catching up to them.
That’s why it’s important to bring in new voices with fresh ideas. Sam Presti has done that in recent years with college basketball scouts. The Thunder have recently added somebody new in that department.
The Thunder have reportedly hired independent grassroots scout Trent Markwith, per On3 Sports’ Joe Tipton. Considering the social media reactions, it looks like OKC has added someone with a strong work ethic who loves basketball.
The Thunder had one of the greatest ascensions from a rebuild to an NBA champion. While he’s not technically a homegrown talent, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did all of his improbable superstar journey in OKC. Meanwhile, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren were franchise-altering draft picks in 2022.
The rest of the roster is filled with players who’ve outplayed their draft slot. From Lu Dort to Cason Wallace to Jaylin Williams to Aaron Wiggins. Smart outside additions like Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein and Isaiah Joe only add style points to how the rest of the NBA views the draft-savvy front office.
As the Thunder remain in the title conversation for the foreseeable future, they’ll be in an unprecedented spot with draft capital. Thanks to moves they made at the start of their rebuild, they could be in line to receive lottery picks from other teams. It’s already happened a couple of times with Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber.
In that scenario, that means the Thunder must continue to invest in their draft brains. After all, that will be the best way to maintain one of the best rosters. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren will soon make up most of the payroll. They must add cheap and young talent to fill out the rest of the roster. Markwith could help with that.
Trent Markwith, a well-regarded independent grassroots scout, is joining the Oklahoma City Thunder’s scouting department, per source. pic.twitter.com/e4svxN9tA2
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) October 8, 2025
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Report: OKC Thunder make changes to scouting department
