December 15th ushered in what many refer to as the official launch of NBA trade season as it marks the date the majority of offseason free-agent signings can be traded. While the OKC Thunder won’t be among the teams actively seeking to upgrade their rosters for a postseason run that doesn’t mean they won’t be invested in improving the roster.
Or more accurately take on an expensive contract to obtain more draft picks or find a young asset who fits the future core. Sam Presti’s phone will be ringing as other front offices look for a third (or fourth) partner to make the semantics of a deal work. Presti will be open to playing that role — for a price! And that price we can safely say means draft picks or young assets who fit the timeline.
How expanded trade options impacts OKC Thunder and 29 opponents
The trade deadline this season is February 10th and while some trades could happen prior to that date historically not much happens until the deadline. This year might be different though as Philly is anxious to move on from Ben Simmons. The latest whispers in Brooklyn are the Nets still believe Kyrie Irving could play for them. Doesn’t that sound like a GM setting the positive “PR narrative” for a trade?
Copious teams are falling short of expectations and with so many teams clustered together in the standings this year could set new records for the number of trades that could occur.
Aside from the Simmons, Irving situations other teams most anxious to make moves are the Indiana Pacers (Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert, Myles Turner), the Blazers (Jusuf Nurkic, Robert Covington), and the Knicks (Kemba Walker). There are bound to be a number of other clubs looking to deal that just aren’t as public with their intentions.
For example, depending on how serious the Khris Middleton knee injury is or Jimmy Butler’s tailbone the Bucks and Heat may look to shore up their depth so they don’t backslide down the ladder.
In the West, the Nuggets sure could use some help for Nikola Jokic, while the Lakers well — you know they want to make moves albeit I’m not sure with what assets.
The Wolves and Kings are desperate to be involved in the postseason. Minnesota’s Big 3 seem to be meshing but they need to add defensive depth. The Kings like the Blazers are in a bit of a Rubik’s cube dilemma in that it’s just as feasible they might be best served by starting all over instead of trying to force the pieces they have to work.
While the Suns, Warriors, and Jazz have separated themselves for the rest of the pack in the West that doesn’t mean they’ll stagnate. Golden State needs another big, the Suns could also use another big man and the Jazz could always use a bit more playmaking.
Also, with so many teams bottled together in the rankings adding one extra player now could be the difference in moving up the ladder in seeding. That’s important as teams jockey to avoid the play-in tournament or cement a home court seed.
For those interested in a team by team breakdown of the players who become eligible to be traded as of December 15th, they are listed below. In addition, Intentions considers each club with a view to which player(s) they’ll be shopping and/or specific needs they may have.
Certain players have restrictions that affect any deal for them such as poison pills, later date restrictions, or one-year Bird restrictions. They are noted below and the specific restrictions are outlined on ESPN.