OKLAHOMA CITY, June 27, 2014 – The Oklahoma City Thunder selected forwards Mitch McGary and Josh Huestis with the 21st and 29th picks and acquired the draft rights to guard Semaj Christon (the 55th overall pick) from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for cash considerations, it was announced by Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
In two seasons at Michigan, McGary appeared in 47 games and averaged 7.8 points, and 6.6 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per contest. During his freshman season, McGary was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team after helping lead the Wolverines to the National Title game. During tournament play, McGary averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks while shooting .678 percent from the field.
McGary was selected as a preseason Associated Press and USA Today First-Team All-American in addition to being named a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Award and USBWA's Oscar Robertson Award entering the 2013-14 season. After appearing in eight games during his sophomore season, McGary missed the final 27 games of the year after undergoing back surgery.
Huestis spent four seasons at Stanford and averaged 7.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 135 career games. During both his junior and senior seasons, Huestis was named to the Pac-12 Defensive Team and at the conclusion of his sophomore season, he received Pac-12 Defensive Team Honorable Mention honors.
This past season, Huestis scored in double-figures on 19 occasions while leading Stanford in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and blocks (1.9 bpg). He concluded his collegiate career as the all-time leading shot blocker in Cardinal history.
In two seasons at Xavier, Christon averaged 16.2 points, 4.4 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 64 career contests. Christon became only the second player in school history to hit the 1,000-point mark as a sophomore.
Christon was a unanimous 2014 First Team All-Big East Conference selection and a member of the 2014 All-Big East Tournament team. After leading the conference in scoring during his freshman season, Christon was named the Atlantic-10 Conference Rookie of the Year. He scored in double-figures in 50 of his last 53 games, including the final 22 contests of the 2013-14 season.