OKC Thunder: 3 players that could realistically be dealt by trade deadline

As things currently stand, the OKC Thunder are a team with spunk but little success, especially as of late.

Through 31 games played, the team boasts a sub-.500 record of 12-19 and place in at the 13th seed in the Western Conference standings.

Despite their early-season successes, finding themselves in and out of the top-8 seeds, the team has gone about and dropped eight of their last nine outings and, as the losses continue to pile up, it begins to become more plausible that the team’s focus could shift solely on the future.

Coming into the year, there were many fans who were under the impression that this OKC squad would embark on the prototypical “tank”, with the idea of vying for a top spot in the 2021 NBA Draft to try and land Oklahoma State standout Cade Cunningham.

The OKC Thunder could trade some key contributors prior to the trade deadline

Unfortunately for some, this roster has proven to be “too good” to go the traditional route we’ve seen from past embarkers like the Philadelphia 76ers of the early 2010s.

Still, as we inch closer to the March 25th NBA trade deadline, we could realistically see Sam Presti and co. ship off a few of their key contributing assets to better position the team for a tankjob through the second half of the campaign.

Today, we present to you 3 players who could realistically be dealt by this year’s deadline:

OKC Thunder player No. 1) Mike Muscala

First on the docket, we have one of my personal favorite role players on this year’s OKC Thunder squad, Mike Muscala.

Coming over to the Sooner State during the 2019 offseason, in year two of his tenure the power forward has managed to establish himself as being a prominent rotation player and, in turn, is having one of his best seasons as a professional career.

Through 29 games played, Muscala is posting a career-high 9.9 points to go along with 3.8 rebounds on 44 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from deep.

The reason we find the 29-year-old here is due to the fact that he provides both a skill set, contract situation, and size that contending teams love to have on their roster.

Listing in at 6-11 Muscala is big enough to find minutes at the five, while his floor spacing abilities (36 percent career 3-point percentage) allow him to play the four as well.

Add in the fact that he’s in the final year of his deal at just under $2.3 million and he’s a viable option for a bevy of teams looking to bolster their bench rotation at a low cost.