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OKC Thunder: 3 things we wish happened at this year’s trade deadline

By Mark Nilon

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 04: Al Horford #42, Darius Bazley #7, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2, Luguentz Dort #5 and George Hill #3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder look on against the Miami Heat during the first quarter at American Airlines Arena on January 04, 2021 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 04: Al Horford #42, Darius Bazley #7, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2, Luguentz Dort #5 and George Hill #3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder look on against the Miami Heat during the first quarter at American Airlines Arena on January 04, 2021 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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This year’s NBA trade season came and went and, as expected, the OKC Thunder took part in some exchanges of their own.

Kicked off with the deal that sent Hamidou Diallo to the Detroit Pistons, Sam Presti and co. went on to make two more trades, one involving Trevor Ariza being sent to the Miami Heat and, of course, capped off with the move that shipped George Hill to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Looking back on the deadline, and the days leading up to it, Oklahoma City fans should be quite pleased with what the team’s front office managed to accomplish — for a rebuilding team, draft capital is always a luxury and now, thanks to their wheeling and dealing, the Thunder have a grand total of 34 picks over the next seven years.

With that said, though Presti certainly didn’t do anything wrong at this year’s deadline, we at TI (perhaps greedily) wish we got to see more action pertaining to storylines linked to the franchise.

For a fun look back on the highly publicized day on the NBA calendar, we present to you 3 things we would have enjoyed seeing:

“What we wished happened” scenario No. 1) OKC Thunder getting another first-rounder

Ok, we get it, this “wish” is without a doubt the most greedy one we could have possibly listed, what with the fact that this team has already managed to stockpile 17 total firsts over the next seven seasons.

That said, it’s never wrong for a franchise to want more… right?

The best chance we believe the OKC Thunder had to attain another first was with the point guard desperate Philadelphia 76ers.

Leading into the trade deadline, a popular belief was that the Sixers could become so desperate for a point guard, that they could even opt to include their upcoming first-round selection for one — after all, they are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with serious championship aspirations so, for them, a bottom three pick doesn’t really mean all that much.

This mindset, of course, was very popular amongst us here at the site when we thought up trade packages involving the Thunder and Philadelphia, but we were certainly not alone with this belief that a first-rounder could be involved in a deal.

Ultimately, the 76ers landed George Hill for a return package consisting of Austin Rivers (via NYK) and two future second-round picks (2025 & 2026) which, in actuality, was a fine grab for the franchise.

That said, one first is always better than two seconds, and we wish Philadelphia was desperate enough to have shipped one over to the Sooner State.

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