Heading into the February 6 trade deadline, all eyes are on the situation in Sacramento between the Kings and All-Star De'Aaron Fox. Recent reports have indicated that the club is "expected to open up talks" about possibly shipping their point guard outbound, and popular belief is that the San Antonio Spurs are the frontrunner to land his services.
The OKC Thunder should be very interested in this ongoing speculation.
Considering they hold a ton of future draft capital and roster several promising young prospects, Oklahoma City is well-positioned to strike on a blockbuster of their own.
However, considering they're breezing right on through the 2024-25 season as currently constructed, perhaps making smaller, more strategic moves to address some of their back-end rotational needs would be the safer option.
Serving as a third team in a Fox-to-Spurs exchange could be of great benefit to all parties involved, as their influx of draft capital could help sweeten the pot and expedite the process. In exchange, the Thunder could then look to pursue the low-risk, high-reward attributes of former star guard, Chris Paul.
Thunder should consider entering into Fox sweepstakes for Chris Paul
As noted already, the Thunder are producing at top-flight rates this season. Through this point during the campaign, they reside in the number one seed in the Western Conference standings at 37-9 and rank as the best two-way team in the game.
That said, even they could still stand for some improvements, with one major area of concern coming in the offensive play-making department.
Outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder have struggled mightily with their offensive creation skills. With the superstar on the floor, their offensive rating is 119.8, ranking in as the second-best mark in the entire league, while plummeting down to a dead-last mark of 104.2 without him.
Adding a tried and true creator and trusty ball handler, particularly to their backcourt, could be an ideal objective for OKC ahead of next week's deadline to address this severe struggle, and Chris Paul could prove to be both an effective and easy-to-attain target to pursue.
Already familiar with what comes with playing in Oklahoma City, as he served as the club's primary floor general back in 2019-20, the 12-time All-Star has always spoken glowingly about his short-lived tenure in the Sooner State and has reportedly kept relationships with several players still on the team today.
While now in the twilight years of his career and far from putting up the numbers he did during his past stint with the Thunder, the 39-year-old Paul is still regularly showcasing that he can serve as a reliable offensive initiator and facilitator, as he's currently dropping 8.2 dimes per game (seventh-best rate in the league) while cashing in on 35.8 percent of his attempts from distance.
Bringing his skill set back to OKC to have backing and, at times, running alongside Gilgeous-Alexander could certainly help alleviate the immense pressures that are resting on the superstar's shoulders and, in turn, would prevent the offense from coming to a screeching halt when he's taken out of the equation.
This could prove to be a major benefit to the team come playoff time.
Considering De'Aaron Fox's lofty $34.8 million salary, for the Spurs to make the finances work to acquire him they'll need to find ways to part with a few of their own higher-priced salaries. Being he's one of only a handful of players in San Antonio who earn in the eight-figure range, his contract may have to be sacrificed to clear enough space on the payroll.
Should this wind up being the case, it may be wise of Sam Presti to make his way into negotiations between the Spurs and Kings to help add some needed capital and young prospects (Ousmane Dieng, Dillon Jones, etc.) into the mix while redirecting Paul to the title-hungry Thunder.
Though perhaps not the splashy, big-time move some OKC fans may be hoping to see, a reunion with the future Hall of Famer could prove to be of great use within this team's rotation.