It goes without saying that the decision to trade for Ajay Mitchell on draft night back in 2024 has turned into an absolute win for the OKC Thunder.
From turning heads and cracking Oklahoma City's stacked title-winning rotation in year one to morphing into one of the club's go-to weapons here in his sophomore go-around, such a statement should be far from controversial.
However, closing in on two years since the initial deal was made, it seems the Thunder may not be the only squad that came away from the transaction successful, as the Suns find themselves reaping the rewards from their own involvement.
Thunder trading for Ajay Mitchell helped land Oso Ighodaro with Suns
Oso Ighodaro was drafted with the 40 overall selection in the 2024 draft, the rights of which were shipped out to Phoenix as part of the Mitchell trade.
While he may have had a rather quiet rookie campaign in the association, revolving in and out of the G League and wrapping up with mere averages of 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per night, here in season two, he's managed to come across a significant upgrade in both the role and impact departments, seeing 21 starts and an average of 22.2 minutes a night.
Simply put, the results have flown well under the radar, as he ranks second on the Suns in both defensive and offensive rating among those who have seen 50 or more games played, and places third behind core fixtures, Collin Gillespie and Devin Booker, in plus-minus.
As of late, Ighodaro has really turned his level of play up a notch, as he's been posting impressive averages of 9.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and just shy of a block while shooting 70.1 percent from the floor since being used as a full-time starter back on March 5.
Currently in the seventh seed in the Western Conference standings with a record of 42-33, Phoenix has already locked up at least a Play-In Tournament berth, and, presumably, will be one of the four teams fighting in the end-of-season tournament for one of the final four playoff spots.
Considering the Thunder are guaranteed either the one or two seed, there's a rather realistic chance that they could square off against the Suns in round one, and, in turn, see the club's emerging big man that they were directly responsible for them acquiring in the first place up close and personal under the bright lights of the postseason.