OKC Thunder: 4 rising-stars worth trading draft picks for

The OKC Thunder have a bevy of draft capital in their possession over the next several seasons. Should they look to trade some of it, there are a few players worth parting ways with them for.

Though many fans came into the 2020-21 season expecting a full-out tankathon from the OKC Thunder, it appears someone forgot to tell the players.

Through nine games the team finds themselves placed in the eighth-seed in the Western Conference standings, boasting a solid record of 5-4 and are currently in the midst of a three-game winning streak.

With this reletively surprising start, some fans have begun to flip their mindset in favor of competing this season rather than solely setting their sights on a top-flight draft selection — though, both would be nice things to see come season’s end.

Due to their better than expected start and, frankly, better than advertised team, there are some who believe that instead of hoarding their copious amounts of draft capital (as many as 18 first-round picks could be in OKC’s possession of the next seven seasons) Sam Presti and co. might want to consider flipping some of these assets in an effort to acquire additional talent (either young or experienced) to better surround Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Today, we present to you a list of four specific players we at Thunderous Intentions believe would be worth the OKC Thunder giving up draft picks for:

OKC Thunder trade candidate No. 1) Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls

Next up we find another young and talented big man wallowing away on an underperforming team in Chicago Bulls’ power forward, Lauri Markkanen.

Starting out the season well within the trade rumor mill, followed by a failure to come to an agreement on a contract extension, the idea of the 23-year-old being dealt at some point this season is obviously a hot one found in the media and, should this happen, we believe the OKC Thunder should consider striking a deal.

For his career, the Finnish-born baller boasts averages of 16.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and half a block per game on 43 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent shooting from deep.

A young bit with as much talent as him is not as easy to come by as one may think. Because of this, should the Bulls be willing to part with him for a few first, it might be wise of Sam Presti to consider such a move.

OKC Thunder trade candidate No. 2) Marvin Bagley, Sacramento Kings

The number two overall pick from the 2018 NBA Draft finds himself once again listed second overall in today’s article.

After having himself an unbelievably successful one-and-done season with the Duke Blue Devils, the hype surrounding Marvin Bagley was massive.

Unfortunately, however, since coming to the Sacramento Kings, Bagley has yet to see a lick of meaningful basketball which, in an uncomfortable turn of events, has led to his father tweeting out a plea to trade the 21-year-old.

This, of course, had led the Twitterverse to explode about potential deals involving the big man and, should the Kings’ front office place him on the trading block, the OKC Thunder should certainly consider coughing up a few picks from their treasure trove to land Bagley.

The third-year pro holds impressive career averages of 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and just shy of a block per game on 49 percent shooting from the field.

Fitting the timeline this OKC roster is currently on, coupled with filling a position at the pivot that could use for some fine-tuning, the idea of sliding Marvin Bagley into a starting lineup consisting of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one that is worth parting with some draft capital to make happen.

OKC Thunder trade candidate No. 3) Caris LeVert, Brooklyn Nets

Caris LeVert has been seen as a trade chip for the Brooklyn Nets seemingly since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving signed with the franchise two summers ago.

While the majority of the proposed deals involve the young wing heading to a team in direct exchange for a star to formulate a big-3 in New York, with proper negotiation skills, perhaps the OKC Thunder could work their way into a 3-team deal involving LeVert heading to Oklahoma City and persuading the other two parties to accept some combination of veteran talents and a boatload of draft capital.

Following up a stellar breakout 2019-20 campaign with yet another fantastic season, the fifth-year wing is posting per-game averages of 18.4 points, six assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and a half block per game on 43 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent shooting from deep.

In the past, we’ve discussed a way in which the Nets could strike a deal with the Houston Rockets to acquire James Harden and, in it, we saw LeVert heading to Texas.

However, with the fact that Houston is without draft picks for what appears to be the next millennia, perhaps they’d also be equally as interested in bringing on four future first-round picks (a combination of both what OKC and the Nets would give) as they would be bringing on LeVert.

Perhaps the idea listed above is a bit of a stretch but, either way, the wing still remains worthy of trading away draft capital.

OKC Thunder trade candidate No. 4) John Collins, Atlanta Hawks

Last but certainly not least, we have perhaps the best player found on this list as well as the one most often found of late on the trade rumor mill.

Now, a little over a month ago my co-expert Tamberlyn Richardson penned a piece discussing three players the OKC Thunder could target using their $27.5 million trade exception and, one of said players was John Collins.

Her reasoning for why he makes sense as an option read as follows:

"There is a compelling argument to add Collins. First, he fits the timeline of the core group who’ll comprise the future era.  The other overwhelming reason is the Hawks added Danilo Gallinari and while Travis Schlenk stated he signed to come off the bench I’m not sure anyone is buying Atlanta paid Gallo $61.5 million to be a bench player."

Despite her reasonings, however, fans took to the comments section to chastise her, with one asking the rhetorical question: Trae [Young] was [second] in [the] league in assists and [is] an elite passer, but you think Collins doesn’t like that? 

Fast-forward several weeks later and you’ll find that the answer to this question has been publicized — he doesn’t, Derrick!

At just 23-years-old Collins finds himself boasting impressive career averages of 16.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and a block per game on 57 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from deep.

Fitting the timeline that the OKC Thunder are currently on, coupled with his specific skill set, trading draft capital to land a potential 1B player in John Collins alongside SGA’s 1A role moving forward is certainly something Sam Presti should pounce on if the Atlanta Hawks place the big man on the block.