Coming into the 2024-25 campaign, the OKC Thunder were regularly branded as arguably the deepest team in the entire association.
After coming off a season where coach Mark Daigneault would regularly go 10 to 12 men deep with his in-game rotations, this summer GM Sam Presti managed to add even more promising ballers to the headman's arsenal via trade, free agency, and the draft.
In doing so, not only did Oklahoma City strengthen its talent pool as a whole, but expanded upon the weapons it has at its disposal within the backcourt, which, while some may view it as a luxury, to others like Grant Hughes it's considered a migraine waiting to happen when it comes to mapping out playing time.
Because of this, the seasoned Bleacher Report writer believes the franchise could, in theory, look to downsize at some point between now and February's trade deadline, and suggests the Detroit Pistons may be a "realistic" landing spot for one of the Thunder's promising young prospects.
Thunder guard Cason Wallace tabbed as 'realistic' trade target for Pistons
In a recent piece penned by the publication, Hughes linked two players or assets to each team in the league, one a "dream" and the other a "realistic" trade target.
For the Pistons, promising Thunder sophomore Cason Wallace was tabbed as someone who could fall into the latter camp, as the seasoned writer cited his "spot-up shooting and dogged defense" as attributes that "make for a much better fit next to Cunningham than any of the prospects in Detroit's pipeline."
The logic presented in the piece for why OKC would even consider such a move was that the 20-year-old currently finds himself "in a bit of a minutes crunch" with guys like Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, Ousmane Dieng and Isaiah Joe all vying for playing time off the pine and that they may be open to the idea of swapping out one of their backcourt talents for "a little more size and shooting on the wing."
As a result, Hughes proposed the idea of Presti and co. pursuing a package of Simone Fontecchio "and sweeteners" in return for Wallace.
This would be wildly unnecessary and, frankly, insulting for the Thunder to even consider partaking in.
Sure, their roster has a ton of players who deserve to see extended run on the hardwood, many of whom reside in the backcourt. However, while some teams may find this to be a complicated situation to figure out, fortunately, the Thunder have stockpiled their roster with highly versatile talents who can slot into any number of positions and still make a positive impact.
This means that even though guys like Caruso, Dort, and Wiggins may all technically be guards, they have proven more than capable of logging minutes at the three, thus clearing up opportunities for someone like Wallace to receive more run at the one or two.
In fact, we've already seen this in full effect in 2024-25, as Wallace has seen his minutes increase from last season despite the perceived overcrowding of guards on the depth chart.
With this uptick in action, he's displayed clear improvements within his game compared to his rookie year, especially when it comes to his on-ball abilities and increased willingness to create offense off the dribble as opposed to his high dependency on catch-and-shoot opportunities last season. Through two weeks of action, Wallace has already increased his shot attempts on drive attempts from 1.0 per game to 2.5.
With all this in mind, coupled with the fact that he's coming off a truly underrated debut campaign that saw him earn All-Rookie honors, why, then, would it make sense for the Thunder to move their second-year lottery pick for a role player like Fontecchio who, though a solid frontcourt floor spacer (shoots 37.3 percent from deep for his career), lacks the upside potential than Wallace has?
Newsflash: It wouldn't, and Oklahoma City is far better off as currently constructed than they would be if they were to make this pipe dream deal become a reality.