With the NBA trade deadline now less than a month away, all eyes seem to be on the OKC Thunder. A legitimate championship contender that's attached to an incredibly enviable payroll and possesses too many future draft picks than they could use on themselves, Oklahoma City has the makings of a team ready and able to strike on a game-changing blockbuster move.
Of course, this has been the case for the last several seasons, as GM Sam Presti's quest for draft capital collection kicked off back in the summer of 2019. During these past five years, the only splashy move made came last February when they brought Gordon Hayward out to the Sooner State for an ill-fated, 33-game ride into the sunset of his professional career.
Despite this lack of activity overall, fans are still seemingly in anticipation that this campaign could be the one that changes this pattern and, throughout the year so far, Oklahoma City has been found linked to some of the league's most coveted targets, most notably Cameron Johnson of the Nets.
However, recent intel from Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports may be enough to pour cold water on all of this trade excitement and enthusiasm, as the NBA Insider revealed in his latest report that the Thunder don't appear to be all that eager to pounce on a move for the Brooklyn sniper ahead of February 6.
NBA Insider suggests Thunder aren't fully invested in Cam Johnson trade
"But we've found no credible evidence of Johnson-to-OKC talks ... even though such chatter continues to make the rounds," Fischer wrote.
Fischer would go on to elaborate on the "whats" and "whys" of his reporting of the Thunder not necessarily being fully invested in a Cameron Johnson trade this season, specifically noting that they may be hesitant to do anything that could potentially shake up the chemistry of this team that, at the moment, sits atop the Western Conference standings with a record of 34-7.
"The Thunder, like the Cavaliers, don't want to do anything to disrupt a roster that resides firmly atop its conference. They're also coming off a rather active offseason that featured the acquisitions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein," Fischer said.
Considering the widespread injuries that have ravaged this Thunder roster throughout the 2024-25 season, it's not inconceivable to think that the front office could change their tune on the idea of making some sort of in-season move, especially one that could help bolster the depth at a position in disarray (here's looking at you, center position).
That said, at least when it comes to the concept of a Cam Johnson-to-OKC deal before next month's deadline, Fischer's latest report is seemingly far from buying any possibility of it coming to fruition.