Sam Presti has historically shied away from making in-season trades throughout his tenure as President of the OKC Thunder.
Though the 2024 Gordon Hayward trade and last season's acquisition of Jared McCain may stand out as recent examples that point to the contrary, in truth, these are more outlier moves than anything else.
In the past, Presti has even gone on record to highlight why, exactly, he's so reluctant to shake things up during the year, saying, "External solutions always bring with them a lot of risk."
Because of this, it makes sense that ESPN's Brian Windhorst has heard league executives suggest that if the Thunder opt to make any moves this season in direct response to their recent string of injuries, "it would not be a surprise if they acquire a player they've already had."
Bringing in someone already familiar with coach Mark Daigneault's system and/ or the Thunder culture as a whole would help prevent any stark adjustment period for the newcomer.
Fortunately, there are plenty of former OKC players who could be acquired with one of their TPEs or possible DPEs.
Thunder certainly have options when it comes to former players
Should the Thunder actually be interested in making moves this season for former players, there are certainly a multitude of directions Presti and company could take.
Should they want extra ball handlers and offensive creators, they could perhaps look to someone like Ty Jerome, a name who has already been floated as a potential mid-season trade target.
The point guard played two seasons with the Thunder from 2020 through 2022, finishing up his Sooner State tenure solidifying himself as a quality second-unit sparkplug while boasting averages of 8.6 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game on 35.3 percent from deep.
Now, in his first season with the Memphis Grizzlies, he's off to a scorching hot start with stellar averages of 29.8 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 37.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Of course, perhaps they could look for a sheer morale- and veteran leadership-boosting addition via a possible reunion with franchise legend Russell Westbrook. Though the former MVP may have just called it a career this past summer, since his retirement announcement, many have been predicting that he "might be back," confidently claiming that he's still "got a lot left" in the tank.
Considering he just finished the 2025-26 season with impressive averages of 15.2 points, 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals, it's clear from a counting-stats standpoint that such beliefs are hard to argue.
At the very least, his return to Oklahoma City would be a feel-good story captivating enough to keep things, even these dark, injury-plagued times, upbeat.
No matter what route they go down, it's clear that this Thunder team will have a number of options to choose from if they wish to actually make an in-season addition.
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