OKC Thunder: Al Horford traded to Washington in B/R’s lastest piece

This offseason, the OKC Thunder are bound to be a busy bunch — man, I love me some alliteration.

After finishing off the 2020-21 campaign with the fourth-worst record in the association at 22-50, Oklahoma City finds themselves boasting the fourth-best odds of landing the top slot in this July’s NBA Draft and hold a 52.5 percent chance of having their pick land within the top-5.

On top of this, they hold the most spending power of all other teams across the league, as they could see upwards of $55 million in cap space this summer, thus making them a potentially lethal team on the free agency market as well.

However, though there are many luxuries that are coming the Thunder’s way during the 2021 offseason, Sam Presti and co. will still come face to face with some real challenges, most notably trying to find a taker for Al Horford and the remaining two years, $53.5 million remaining on his contract.

Though once viewed as an impossible feat, as he came to the OKC Thunder last offseason viewed as a mere salary dump attached to a future first-round pick, thanks to his impressive play throughout this past campaign with the franchise, such a task has seemingly become far more realistic.

Over the past several months, we’ve been discussing teams that could be interested in the veteran big’s services come next season and believe there are several prime options that should be considered as realistic destinations.

Recently, Bleacher Report jumped into the mix and concocted a trade that would send Horford to the Southeast Division to join the Washington Wizards.

The exact package they proposed reads as follows:

Citing his production from this past season, coupled with the fact that the Washington Wizards might be finding themselves fighting to keep Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook in tow, writer Greg Swartz believes that making a move for the 34-year-old center could make a lot of sense for the organization:

"If the Wizards want to keep Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook together and make another run, adding some frontcourt talent with playoff experience is a must.Horford played well for the Thunder last year (14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 36.8 percent from three) and would be a big upgrade over Alex Len or Robin Lopez at center in Washington. Even if the Wizards want to start Daniel Gafford, Horford could play big minutes off the bench and would be a perfect role model for the young center to follow.If Horford starts to show his age, only $14.5 million of his $26.5 million salary for next year is guaranteed."

In turn, the OKC Thunder wind up getting Horford’s contract off the books without having to part with draft capital while also bringing back two talented bigs along the way.