OKC Thunder: “Pass or Pursue” on 2 recently proposed Al Horford trades
By Mark Nilon
OKC Thunder trade No. 1) Jakob Poeltl heads to the Sooner State
Despite the fact that Al Horford did manage to up his stock with his play throughout the 2020-21 campaign, trading the veteran big this summer will still likely be a tall task for Sam Presti and co. to accomplish.
With the fact that he’ll be 35 by the start of next season and will be owed $53.5 million through 2023, finding a taker to bring on Horford alone will be nearly impossible.
However, if the OKC Thunder were to add one of their draft selections from their treasure trove of assets, then a deal would become much easier for the front office to execute.
In this proposal, we see Swartz propose sending the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2022 first-round pick down to San Antonio along with Horford in exchange for fifth-year center, Jakob Poeltl.
This year, the 25-year-old managed to work his way up to the starting lineup for the Spurs on a full-time basis and, in said role, he managed to establish himself as one of the league’s best rim protectors.
Through 51 starts, Poeltl posted per-game averages of 9.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, two assists, and 1.9 blocks on a highly efficient 63 percent shooting from the field.
Now, while the center has proven to be a talented player who is worthy of a starting role at the pivot, we at the site are simply not fond of the idea of the Thunder trading for a non-floor spacing big, especially if it means parting with a first-rounder in the process.
Though Swartz went on to state that the addition of Poeltl would give Oklahoma City “a good defensive center who forms a talented duo with Moses Brown”, we, on the other hand, simply believe that it would be just another addition of a lane clogger all at the expense of a valuable draft asset.
At the end of the day, if they opt to include such an asset, Presti should look into bringing back some sort of floor-spacer/ shot creator, for that would go a long way when it comes to the progressions of franchise building block, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
With this in mind, it’s evident that this proposed trade ain’t it.