The Oklahoma City Thunder are almost guaranteed to make trades this summer, as they have all 15 players on their roster and a hoard of draft picks they will have to make or move. Fans may not be pleased with losing a player they may have grown attached to. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line explained as much in one of his recent articles.
“Yet it’s likewise true that Oklahoma City’s deep roster and overflowing draft pick cache have opposing teams eyeing Presti with great curiosity,” Fischer wrote. “The Thunder, as presently constructed, simply cannot add two rookie-scale contracts onto their payroll without cutting ties with someone under contract. If you’re looking for offseason trees to shake, something is going to fall here.”
However, a part of this is positive.
Thunder trades are a good thing
For as much as fans may get upset with the Thunder trading one of the players they have become attached to, OKC has carefully placed itself in this position.
Year after year, they have made smart moves to add draft capital and maintain a ton of flexibility in hopes of competing for championships—something they are doing right now.
“To be clear: This is an incredibly enviable position to be in,” Fischer wrote. “The Thunder won 68 games during the regular season, assembled one the greatest defenses in league history and achieved all that while sporting the NBA’s youngest roster. One former general manager actually lamented over the phone this week how much better Sam Presti is at team-building than most. The Thunder, no matter how these Finals turn out, have the ammunition and flexibility to make any move they deem wise that further optimizes this championship-chasing core.”
What Thunder trades could be coming?
If the Thunder like certain prospects in this year’s draft, they could end up trading players on the current roster. However, Fischer also pointed out that teams around the league are preparing for OKC to consider trading out of their first-round draft slot.
“Or do the Thunder look to consolidate those two looming first-round picks and move up into the lottery? That is a scenario several teams picking in the back end of the top 14 are preparing for, league sources say,” he wrote. “OKC has a history of trading out of the back of the first round to acquire future draft capital, like they did in a 2022 trade with Denver that swapped the No. 30 pick for a 2027 first-rounder. There’s been lots of chatter leaguewide, actually, about the majority of picks from Nos. 20-30 being available for trade in this draft.”