OKC Thunder viewed as ‘dark-horse’ landing spot for Lonzo Ball

The OKC Thunder are a team poised for great success this offseason.

After such a disappointing 2020-21 campaign filled with plenty of injuries and a plethora of losses, Sam Presti and co. look to the summer months as a way to get the wheels in motion on their full-fledged franchise rebuild.

During this time period, the Thunder’s to-do list will be rather jam-packed, with draft business and searching for trade destinations in an effort to offload Al Horford starting off their offseason agenda.

However, somewhere in the middle of importance is their plans for August’s free agency period, where, despite their indifference when it comes to competing next season, still will have about $51 million at their disposal.

In this year’s free agency class, there are several talents who could prove to be of great service to the OKC Thunder both in the near future as well as down the road and have specifically gone about and listed 3 in which they should strongly consider splurging on.

One of said players in Lonzo Ball has been perhaps the most often talked about names connected to the Sooner State slated to hit the open market and, recently, Bleacher Report writer, Greg Swartz, listed the Thunder as being a ‘dark-horse’ landing spot for the fourth-year point guard.

Citing his all-around skillset coupled with OKC’s ability to outbid the rest of the competition, B/R is under the impression that the two parties could be a realistic match for one another this summer:

"While New Orleans may be comfortable offering him $18-20 million per year, a rookie max extension at 25 percent of a $112 million salary cap would start at $28 million and quickly climb north of $30 million.Even that number may give New Orleans pause.A backcourt of Ball and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be quite good in OKC, with both guards standing 6’6″ and able to operate on or off the ball. While it would get expensive quickly with a contract extension coming for Gilgeous-Alexander in 2022-23, that’s the same year Al Horford’s contract expires, leaving the Thunder in tremendous cap shape.With few stars in free agency to spend money on, the Thunder could throw a max offer at Ball and make it difficult for the Pelicans to match."

For a while now, we’ve been big on the idea of Lozon Ball coming to the OKC Thunder and believe he’d be an ideal candidate to take on starting point guard duties alongside SGA right from day one.

The 23-year-old is currently coming off of his best season as a pro, as he posted averages of 14.6 points, 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and just over a half-block per game on 41 percent shooting from the floor and 38 percent shooting from deep.