Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder

Steven Adams was a fan favorite during his OKC Thunder tenure, but is anything left in the tank? Why he is not the top Memphis target.

Again, I would like to ask you not to pelt me with tomatoes as I say; while we all love Steven Adams, he is not the player he was in Oklahoma City. He currently represents one of the worst contracts in the NBA, being owed 12.6 million dollars this season and next.

Adams is an old 30-year-old with plenty of wear and tear on his body; questioning his ability to play an 82-game schedule is not out of line. OKC Thunder fans also had a front-row seat to how the game changed for him during the postseason. For as much as he would warm the hearts of the heartland, Adams is not the player he once was, and there would be little-to-no sense in bringing him back for the sake of nostalgia.

The Memphis Grizzlies have their own young core with plenty of off-limits talent, so I narrowed my search for a trade target to Luke Kennard.

Kennard is owed 14.7 million dollars this year, with a 14.7 million dollar team option to be decided on in the summer. The Memphis Grizzlies sharpshooter shot 49 percent from beyond the arc a season ago, and we have seen what adding a leather shooter has done for Mark Daigneault’s offense in the form of Isaiah Joe.

It again comes down to how realistic it is for the Grizzlies to part with Kennard. Making yet another South West division foe seem unlikely as a trade partner.

Target: Luke Kennard.