How the OKC Thunder were involved in the latest NBA Blockbuster trade featuring Pascal Siakam

The Oklahoma City Thunder sits with a 27-13 record, and as we sit just weeks away from the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline, the vast majority of the OKC Thunder fanbase is clamoring for the franchise to make a move.

Today, it felt like the official starting gun went on on the Trade Deadline chaos; while most deals still wait until closer to the actual deadline, we did get an official "Woj Bomb" this afternoon with the Indiana Pacers finalizing a trade to land Toronto Raptors All-Star forward Pascal Siakam.

The New Orleans Pelicans snuck into this deal to dump Kira Lewis Jr. on the Raptors to dodge below the salary tax, but ultimately the deal sends Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round picks to the Toronto Raptors for Siakam.

How the OKC Thunder were indirectly involved in the Pascal Siakam Trade

Those three first-round picks seem like a lot, especially for a player you have to pay massive money to this offseason and could ultimately choose to walk out the door, but it was worth the risk for Indiana.

Not only do the Pacers feel confident Siakam will re-sign this summer, but two of the three first-round selections come in a bad 2024 NBA Draft class, while the third selection is in 2026.

Toronto has one of the best Front Offices at finding hidden gems in and around the NBA Draft, so getting more cracks at young, cheap, controllable players to start their rebuild seems like a good call despite the perception of this year's draft.

One of those 2024 first-round picks is via Oklahoma City, a selection that has already cycled through a lot of hands; here is how the Thunder snuck their way into this deal in a roundabout way.

Back in the Summer, The Oklahoma City Thunder shipped the least favorable of their 2024 NBA Draft selections (between the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, OKC Thunder, and L.A. Clippers) to Denver for a 2029 first-round pick.

The Denver Nuggets rerouted that future draft pick to Indiana in a move to net the Nuggets the 29th overall pick and 32nd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Now, Indiana has sent that selection to Toronto for the right to land All-Star forward Pascal Siakam. This will certainly start a domino effect on the NBA Trade market from now through the February 8th deadline.