The OKC Thunder come into the summer of 2021 with plenty of potential to shoot off some fireworks and make some big moves that could wind up setting themselves up rather nicely for their franchise rebuild.
Not only do they hold the fourth-best odds of taking on the No. 1 overall selection in this July’s NBA Draft, but they also are on track to have the most spending power in the entire association to use in free agency, and could find themselves partaking in a few offseason exchanges via trade in an effort to clear their books even more and better their trajectory moving forward.
Overall, the end goal for this team should be to create a well-rounded ball club to guide them into a new era of OKC Thunder basketball and, to the majority of people, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the player that will be leading the charge.
That said, some have discussed the idea of going even further in their tank effort and, in turn, have even proposed the nauseating idea of trading away SGA for more draft picks to really have them start from a blank canvas.
Recently, Bleacher Report proposed such a concept, as writer Zach Buckley concocted a deal that would send the 2020-21 All-Star snub to Memphis and have him team up with Ja Morant.
The exact package reads as follows:
Now, as we already alluded to, the logic behind this deal by Buckley is that the OKC Thunder are trying to officially start from scratch and, in turn, cultivate as many picks as possible to build all-natural via the draft.
Adding in the likes of Jaren Jackson Jr. also still gives Sam Presti and co. a youthful talent to build around moving forward.
However, despite how good we believe the Grizzlies’ big man can be down the road, from a completely unbiased point of view, this idea makes little to no sense for Oklahoma City to even consider.
At just 22-years-old, Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off of his first season as head honcho where he posted averages of 23.7 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.7 rebounds a game on 50.8 percent shooting from the floor and 41.8 percent shooting from deep, grouping him with just Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry as the only players this year to post such per-game loglines.
An interchangeable guard who has proven capable of excelling on and off ball, a guy like SGA is not someone that should simply be used as a means of collecting more draft capital, for said assets would only be used in an effort to nab someone with the potential that he possesses.
With him in tow, coupled with the fact that they have 34 total selections within the next six years, it’s apparent that the OKC Thunder are already ahead of the curve when compared to all other tanking teams in the league.
The hard work for the team’s rebuild is already over, and it’s because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
This young stud should be viewed as untouchable.