OKC Thunder: 3 realistic trade partners for Oklahoma City
By Mark Nilon
When it comes to the OKC Thunder, one can’t help but think of the treasure trove of assets they possess.
Thanks to the overwhelming amount of wheeling and dealing General Manager Sam Presti took part in over the past two offseasons, the franchise now finds itself in possession of a potential 16 first-round picks over the next seven years.
In turn, this has landed them the likes of a franchise player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a promising young forward Darius Bazley, the 7-2 wunderkind prospect in Aleksej Pokuševski, and several other assets such as George Hill, Al Horford, and Trevor Ariza who could very likely bring Oklahoma City even more assets that are viewed with greater long-term value (picks, young players, etc.).
The OKC Thunder should consider making some trades with desperate franchises
If they do decide to take part in a few more deals before season’s end — we certainly hope they do — in an attempt to add to their already illustrious collection of assets, they will have a multitude of teams that could serve as optimal trade partners.
Today, we present to you 3 franchises that fans could realistically see the OKC Thunder making a deal with this season:
OKC Thunder trade partner No. 1) Los Angeles Lakers
First up, we see the likes of La La Land in the form of the Lakers making their way onto the list.
The defending champions seem hell-bent on beating the Boston Celtics to the punch this season by winning a league-record 18 championships. While having LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the way sets them up nicely to accomplish such a goal, a team is much more than just two players.
Though they have sound depth on the rotation already in Kyle Kuzma, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell (just to name a few), in unprecedented times such as these, they could always use for more.
Recently, we saw Bleacher Report propose the idea that the Lakers could be interested in the likes of Mike Muscala and, in the past, we’ve seen them linked to the likes of George Hill.
Whether we want them to engage in talks with them or not, with Presti’s apparent affection for second-round picks, we could see the Lakers serving as a potential trade partner with the ball club this season.