NBA trade season is officially in full swing, and, per league-wide rumblings, the OKC Thunder appear to be a team interested in making moves.
Despite their top-seeded record of 27-5 and league-leading winning streak, according to Hoops Hype's Michael Scotto, GM Sam Presti still has an eye on making some improvements to the team's talent pool and views Brooklyn Nets sniper Cameron Johnson as a possible target worth considering striking on a deal for.
With his impressive shooting capabilities (career 39.7 percent three-point shooter), scoring prowess, and overall two-way potential consensus opinion among Thunder fans is that the 28-year-old could very well prove to be the ideal trade candidate for the organization.
However, regardless of whether this sentiment is true or not, it is by no means a suggestion that the veteran is the only player who should be on OKC's radar ahead of February 6.
Strewn across the league are a plethora of ballers who, with their specific on-court attributes and overall expertise, could make for seamless fits within this Thunder rotation if acquired, with three, in particular, worthy of consideration with or without a trade for Cam Johnson.
Trade targets Thunder must consider with or without Cam Johnson deal
Collin Sexton
Despite the fact that the Thunder technically already have a slew of talented ballers residing within their backcourt, outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander they have been quite lacking in the scoring department this season, especially when it comes to their second-unit rotation.
From an individual standpoint, no regular reserve player finds himself averaging over 8.9 points per game while, as a collective, the bench squad has generated the eighth-fewest points in 2024-25.
Adding a microwave scorer, even at a position they are already well equipped with, could be a highly strategic move for Oklahoma city to make and Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton might be the perfect option to pursue.
A career 18.8 point per game scorer with shooting splits of 47.0/ 38.9/ 83.8, the 25-year-old is yet again amid an impressive campaign on the most glamorous side of the ball.
In 28.5 minutes per night, Sexton finds himself regularly displaying his isolation and self-creation abilities, ranking as high as 34 in the league in isolation frequency out of those who have logged 20 or more games.
As a result, he is posting 17.7 points while shooting a highly efficient 49.3 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from distance.
While he may not be the biggest name rumored to be on the block this season, the cost it would take to land him likely won't be nearly as high as some of the top-billed talents.
Bringing on a player via a relatively affordable exchange rate who can do wonders in the scoring department with the ball in his hands could be a major win for the Thunder.
Larry Nance Jr.
The allure of Larry Nance Jr. is that he's a jack-of-all-trades type of player on the hardwood.
Unlike someone like Collin Sexton who's a scoring specialist, the veteran is a do-everything talent who can fill multiple roles both schematically and, with his 6-foot-8, 245-pound, 7-foor-2 wingspan frame, positionally for the Thunder.
Now in his 10 season in the association, the tweener big is once again providing imperative all-around contributions for his respective club, as he's posting 9.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and just shy of a block on 58.5 percent shooting from the floor and 52.0 percent shooting from deep in his first season with the Hawks.
Considering the fact that Oklahoma City has already endured quite a few health-related hardships and injury-induced absences so far during this season (especially down in their frontcourt), bringing on a tweener big like Larry Nance Jr. who can provide aid in virtually every area imaginable would be an absolute luxury moving forward.
Kelly Olynyk
Like Larry Nance Jr., Kelly Olynyk would provide the Thunder with some much-needed depth to their frontcourt arsenal if attained. Of course, perhaps more importantly, he would add much more size and a stronger scoring punch.
Sure, Oklahoma City may already have two 7-footers in tow with the likes of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, but, outside of them, coach Mark Daigneault only has one player in Ousmane Dieng who measures in at above 6-foot-9 to work with.
Being both Chet and I-Hart have experienced some extensive health-related ailments this season so far, coupled with the fact that the third-year Frenchman has severely underwhelmed (to put it lightly) through this point in his career, it may be wise for the team to consider adding more big bodies to their collection.
Because of this, the 6-foot-11, 240-pound Olynyk could be a highly serviceable target to consider.
On top of his stature, the addition of the veteran would bring a steady and established inside-out offensive game that sees him boast 10.2 points on 48.5 percent shooting from the floor and 37.0 percent shooting from deep for his career as well as 7.3 points on a whopping 47.8 percent shooting from distance so far in 2024-25.
Add all this to the fact that Kelly Olynyk has an already established personal relationship and on-court rapport with Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (served as teammates on the Canada men's national basketball team during this past summer's Olympics) and an acquisition of his services should be viewed as both highly logical and rather plausible.