Over the course of the four years since the Oklahoma City Thunder officially entered a new era, trading away Russell Westbrook and Paul George to start rebuilding the roster, it’s been no secret that acquiring draft capital has been a top priority for GM Sam Presti. He’s accumulated record-setting amounts of future first-round picks and has successfully put the franchise in the position to once again see sustained success over the next decade.

While the haul of first-round picks the team has put together will certainly be a driver of future success, allowing them to bring in more young talent and make big trades, the stash of future second rounders shouldn’t go unnoticed. Oklahoma City has nearly 20 second-round picks over the next seven drafts, previously owned by 10 different teams.

Historically, second-round picks haven’t been needle movers for NBA franchises. Although there’s always a few diamonds in the rough in each draft class, the vast majority of these second-round selections don’t make it in the league. Furthermore, the ability to make meaningful trades has never hinged on second-round draft capital, as those were always more of a sweetener.

With that in mind, the recent NBA Trade Deadline may have shifted the market. More than 40 future second-round picks were traded on deadline day alone, while before that no more than 15 had ever been traded in a single day in the history of the league. Not only were an unorthodox amount of picks moved, but they were primary drivers of some of the top players on the market being acquired. For example, Jae Crowder, Saddiq Bey and Gary Payton II were each traded for five second-round selections. Furthermore, Thomas Bryant and Josh Richardson were moved for three and four second rounders respectively.

This trend continued into the current offseason, as second-round picks have been a huge part in the movement of players all around the league. For example, in being a third-party in re-routing Patty Mills to the Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City ultimately landed four future second-round picks.

While this could be an anomaly, the recent deadline tells us that second-rounders can be moved for quality role players that could be the difference in a postseason push. For the Thunder, this is ultimately what sets this next run at a championship over the next decade apart from the first time around. Oklahoma City now has an incredible stash of both first and second rounders to make moves to improve the team and bring in young talent along the way.

The first rounders will be the used to make the bigger moves, but don’t underestimate the value of OKC’s future second-round picks and how critical those could be in the grand scheme of things. If Presti feels the team needs to make a deal to get over the hump, replace an injured player or alleviate a weakness in the rotation at any point in the foreseeable future, there will be an avenue to do so.