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.