OKC Thunder: “Pass or Pursue” on 3 recently rumored trade ideas
By Mark Nilon
With their bevy of deals that kicked off the 2020 offseason, the OKC Thunder have been linked to a few more moves that Bleacher Report believes they could make.
With their surprise postseason run in 2019-20 now in the rearview, the OKC Thunder look to 2020-21, where their main priority is player development and, seemingly, the draft.
It is a large belief amongst the fanbase that this coming season will be one to simply come and go, as the word “tank” has been tossed around like a pigskin on Thanksgiving.
Whatever your thoughts on the matter may be, it is a universal belief that, though we may be within weeks till tip-off for the regular season, the Thunder could still be in line to make some trades.
Though many may want the smaller deals that send out veterans for future assets — a trend recently for Sam Presti and co. — Bleacher Report recently came out with an article that proposes 3 different deals, all of varying sizes, that OKC could still make this offseason.
With this, we here at Thunderous Intentions are going to play a game entitled “Pass or Pursue” where we discuss concocted trades and determine whether it would be wise for the franchise to execute them or if they should simply stand pat.
So, without further adieu, let’s get started:
OKC Thunder trade idea No. 1) Cody Zeller and Malik Monk come to town
In this deal, we see the Thunder engaging in talks with the Hornets that sends recently acquired big man Al Horford and the Golden State Warrior’s 2021 first-round pick (acquired in the Kelly Oubre Jr. deal) to Charlotte in exchange for center Cody Zeller and point guard Malik Monk.
The deal, as explained by writer Greg Swartz, is all about opening up the books for OKC in the future, as he explains:
"The Thunder could own as many as three first-rounders next year and would essentially be paying for cap space in 2021 here. Zeller and Monk represent $20.7 million in expiring salary, potentially making the Thunder one of the biggest players in a star-studded free-agent class."
What it seems like Swartz is missing is the fact that, based on the franchise’s history, the OKC Thunder are never really a player for the top-billed talents on the open market. This is no disrespect to the team, nor to Oklahoma City as a whole but, rather, a well-known fact that small-town teams are generally left in the dust when the available stars are searching for their next “home.”
In a perfect world, where there was no difference between small and big markets, a deal like this might make sense.
However, in THIS reality, the idea of sending away a first-round pick for expiring contracts to clear up cap space based on the hope that a Giannis Antetokounmpo or a Kawhi Leonard would come is reletively wasteful.
Don’t get things twisted, I’m all for dealing a few of the team’s plethora of first-round selections. That said, this proposed deal just ain’t it!