OKC Thunder: B/R proposes perfect George Hill trade to Boston Celtics
By Mark Nilon
Since touching down in the Sooner State this past offseason, OKC Thunder fans viewed veteran guard, George Hill, as a short-term resident.
Now in his 13th season in the association, the 34-year-old is simply on a different timeline than this rebuilding Oklahoma City squad and, though he’s played well for the franchise through 14 games, very few in the know believe he’ll find himself on the roster past the March 25th trade deadline.
Because of this, we here at Thunderous Intentions have gone about thinking up possible trade destinations for Hill. Recently, Bleacher Report jumped back into the mix of trying to figure out where the guard could go, and, like they typically find themselves doing, shipped him off to the Boston Celtics.
Unlike their past proposals, however, writer Zach Buckley’s latest trade is perhaps the best-case scenario OKC could find themselves in when shopping the point guard.
B/R proposes perfect trade that OKC Thunder could make involving George Hill
The specific trade proposal reads as follows:
In the past, we’ve seen B/R concoct George Hill deals where the OKC Thunder either bring back a future low-level first-round pick or just a couple of “ok” role players.
However, with how many picks they currently possess, they truly don’t need any more (champaign problems, huh?) and, with a roster already filled with role players, bringing on more with limited upside just seems a bit redundant.
That said, this proposed deal by Buckley finds the Thunder bringing on two promising young prospects in Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith, both of whom were Boston’s last couple of lottery selections (2019 and 2020, respectively).
Langford, though finding himself in and out of the G-League during his rookie season, and has not played a single minute in 2020-21 due to injury, has shown to be an intriguing two-way wing who has shown flashes of being a lockdown defender and has flashed solid distribution and scoring skills during his short tenure in Beantown.
During his one-and-done season at Indiana University back in 2018-19, Langford posted 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game on 45 percent shooting from the field, while playing the majority of his campaign with a broken thumb that required offseason surgery.
Nesmith, Boston’s most recent lottery pick, posted even crazier numbers during his final season at the collegiate level with Vanderbilt, averaging 23 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and just under a block per game while shooting 51 percent from the field and a whopping 52 percent from deep.
Known as arguably the best shooter from this past draft, had it not been for his season-ending foot injury, he very well could have played himself into being a top-10 pick but, because of it, he ultimately landed with the Celtics at 14th overall.
Receiving guys like Langford, who drew upside comparisons to DeMar DeRozan, and Nesmith, with the upside of Buddy Hield, all for two veteran players in Hill and Trevor Ariza (remember him?) would be an absolute steal for the OKC Thunder and their desire to build for the future.
If this proposal ever made its way into a real scenario, Sam Presti should quickly pounce at such an opportunity.