5 key questions facing the OKC Thunder at trade deadline

Should Presti beat everyone to the punch & make the big trade now?

Closing out the five burning questions Sam Presti has to consider prior to Thursday’s trade deadline is the most controversial of all. This summer there won’t be a free for all during the moratorium or free agency because there simply isn’t copious top 10 talents available and arguably even top 20 talents.

Additionally, most teams won’t have cap space since most are gearing their salaries and roster flexibility for two summers from now. That’s when a renewed slate of top 10 talents become available led by Giannis Antetokounmpo. In fact, the players who earmarked deals this past summer will once again be on the table. Paul George can opt-out that summer and Kawhi Leonard shocked many by signing a deal which also allows him to opt-out after two seasons.

Even entering this trade deadline most are expecting it to be relatively quiet since the majority of teams don’t have salary cap flexibility. A factor made even more predominant given the news the cap won’t increase by as much as originally expected due to viewership being down and the debacle led by Daryl Morey’s comments.

Last year most of the top clubs made big moves including the eventual champions trade for Marc Gasol who became a key cog in their title run.

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So what if Sam Presti were to take everyone by surprise and pull the big trade now? What if he gets out ahead of all the teams prior to the summer and makes a deal to bring in a top tier talent? No one would be expecting it and it could be the perfect time to pull another similar move to what he did when he went out and grabbed Paul George.

Granted that move didn’t pay dividends, however, the current state of the franchise is directly tied to that original trade for PG. That’s because the deal to move him to the Clippers was the domino that restructured the franchise and landed all those draft picks.

Let’s just say Presti shouldn’t be afraid to make a move now if he can land a top talent who fits the long term plans of the Thunder. If he can get a young player to complement the current core and simultaneously push the roster ahead earlier he should absolutely make the move.

All those draft picks are awesome to own, but Presti doesn’t need to keep them all especially when he could jettison a few now to expedite the future of the OKC Thunder.

Again, watch in the coming days for a ‘big splash trade’ article which focuses on a player Sam Presti should target right now.