OKC Thunder: One stop guide to NBA Trade Deadline Day
Who should Sam Presti be looking to move?
The only untouchable player(s) on the roster is Shai Gilgeous and perhaps Darius Bazley although the latter isn’t a lock.
That said, this team has showcased how much chemistry plays a part in winning. Chris Paul who entered the season with everyone citing his albatross salary being untradeable without copious picks attached has rewritten the narrative. CP3 has showcased his leadership and clutch time mettle and now any team who wants him will have to attach their own picks.
As for specific players to move even though there is the trade rumor on Gallo, Presti doesn’t have to move him (even though he’s on an expiring contract). If Presti can find a trade partner looking to shed salary at season end he could try to part with Andre Roberson‘s deal and loyal T.I. readers know they would be no tears shed if Mike Muscala was traded.
If Presti’s peers show interest in players that aren’t currently contributing or the brain trust doesn’t see fitting the future picture then he should move them.
Will there be a surprise deal?
The faithful OKC Thunder fan base is all too familiar with Sam Presti the magician. New fans will point to this past summer and the shocking Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and Jerami Grant trades. The George trade, of course, came out of thin air with no one expecting it but it’s not the first time the Thunder magician has pulled these types of deals off.
The original deal to bring Paul George is an example of one of those trades. Or the deal that sent Serge Ibaka to the Magic and brought back Victor Oladipo. How about the trade deadline moves to bring in Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott.
The moral of the story is don’t discount Presto Presti pulling off a shocking move that no one sees coming. One such mic drop deal was covered today in the Southwest Division team review. Don’t think this is an arbitrary swing for the fences type deal because this shocking mic drop trade would benefit all parties and isn’t out of the realm of the type of surprising deal Presti is known to make.
Related Story. Potential Presti mic drop trade deadline deal that would shake up the NBA. light
The other hot take I’ll make is if I had to isolate a player no one expects to get traded it would be Terrance Ferguson. He’s a valued 2-way player but Luguentz Dort‘s emergence (and depending on other trades) makes his future less certain in OKC.