Grade the Trade: Thunder land veteran power forward in new win-now proposal
By Mark Nilon
The OKC Thunder are heading into the 2024-25 campaign with an overwhelming amount of optimism.
After rattling off 57 wins, becoming the youngest team in league history to clinch a top-seed in a conference standings, and advancing to their first semifinals appearance in nearly a decade, this summer Mark Daigneault's already menacing Oklahoma City squad managed to get even more terrifying.
From the signing of Isaiah Hartenstein on day two of free agency to strengthen their size and physicality in the frontcourt to the acquisition of 3-and-D guard Alex Caruso via trade back in late June that is bound to better their backcourt's long-range game, throughout the offseason Sam Presti and company have worked tirelessly to improve the team's overall make-up.
And while their efforts have seemingly paid off in the eyes of odds-makers, who have given the Thunder the second-best odds of winning the 2025 NBA Finals, it appears they may still have fallen short of perfectly rounding out the rotation.
OKC Thunder must consider adding traditional power forward
As things currently stand, the weakest position within coach Daigneault's arsenal seems to be power forward, where their primary option from last year and heading into 2024-25 is Jalen Williams.
While the 23-year-old did manage to have himself a phenomenal run at the four in 2023-24, posting sensational averages of 19.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.0 rebounds on 54.0 percent shooting from the floor and 42.7 percent from distance en route to a fourth-place finish in the Most Improved Player race, considering his size (6-foot-5, 211 pounds) coupled with his play style it's quite evident that Williams boasts the makings of a traditional three.
Because of this, it might be in OKC's best interest to look into ways where they could better flesh out their lineup by bringing on a more natural fit at the power forward position, and, in a recent piece penned by FanSided's Christopher Kline, the seasoned writer proposed a trade that could prove to do exactly that.