After the OKC Thunder lost Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals bout against the Spurs, Stephen A. Smith found himself doing what he does best -- fear-mongering.
During Tuesday's edition of First Take, the polarizing ESPN personality suggested that Oklahoma City may want to consider shaking up its championship-tested core this summer should they end up losing to San Antonio here in round three, specifically proposing the idea of coughing up a package headlined by Chet Holmgren for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
It goes without saying that such subject matter is unbelievably outrageous to hear at this point in time for two very specific reasons: The Thunder are historically averse to making blockbuster trades, and, most importantly, they are literally only one game behind in this series.
Considering there are still six more games that are eligible to be played, even floating the idea of breaking up this Big Three is pure hogwash.
Having said that, there is actually one Thunder trade rumor circulating right now that even the most locked-in of fans could deem acceptable to hear, as NBA insider Brian Windhorst recently hinted that OKC "might look to trade up" in this year's NBA Draft by using the Clippers' 12 and Philadelphia's 17 overall picks as the primary outbound assets in a potential deal.
Thunder interest in adding better draft pick only acceptable trade rumor
As noted, right now, fans should be fully locked in on Oklahoma City's ongoing quest for winning back-to-back titles.
Despite what Stephen A.'s doomsday scenario plans may suggest, this team still has a very realistic chance of taking home the 2026 Larry O'Brien Trophy -- after all, they've proven themselves capable of coming back in postseason action when being down 0-1 before.
However, while the players and coaching staff are actively looking to achieve such a goal, Sam Presti and company are hard at work devising ways to keep this club well in the title-contention conversation for the foreseeable future.
Adding a high-end talent in this year's NBA Draft could be a rather simple and cost-effective way of doing exactly that.
For months now, many have speculated that this OKC front office could be interested in using some of their insane draft capital collection to work their way up near the top of the draft board.
Now, with just over a month to go before the festivities actually begin, Windhorst is yet again peddling this presumed desire for the Thunder, which, if they prove successful, "their already solid foundation for a dynasty strengthens even more."
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