After becoming the youngest team in NBA history to not only clinch a No. 1 seed in a conference standings but to become the youngest to win a playoff series, the OKC Thunder find themselves still alive in this year's postseason and, thus, still have their eyes set on claiming the franchise's first-ever Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Despite these current successes and ongoing playoff participation, however, the folks at Bleacher Report seem to already be planning ahead for the coming offseason where Sam Presti and company will look to continue to strengthen Mark Daigneault's collection of talent on the hardwood.
Though they hold the rights to numerous draft selections this summer and have ample cap space available to them, writer Greg Swartz is suggesting the Thunder could look to bolster their roster via the trade route and, should they embark down such a road, Josh Giddey could be the most likely candidate to become available.
Josh Giddey tabbed as player OKC Thunder could place on trade block
"The 21-year-old would draw a lot of attention on the trade market, as 6'8" point guards with his kind of versatility don't come around very often. If the Thunder don't feel like they can pay all of their young players max or near-max deals, he could be the odd man out."Greg Swartz
Josh Giddey breaks out the euro for the lay 🥶 pic.twitter.com/ByFKtMjtpR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 27, 2024
Now playing through his third season in the association, the former sixth overall pick from the 2021 NBA Draft has seen regressions in numerous statistical categories compared to last year including points (12.3), assists (4.8), and rebounds (6.4) and, for a large portion of the campaign, was tabbed as more of a problem than a positive producer for the Thunder.
That said, as of late the 21-year-old has seemingly found his groove and, once again, is contributing to winning basketball, as he averaged 16.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on 53.1 percent shooting from the floor and 56.3 percent shooting from deep during Oklahoma City's final three games against the New Orleans Pelicans in round one.
Now, though Swartz would go on to note in his piece that there's "no reason to trade the Australian now," ultimately, the Thunder should be open to seeing what his market value could be following the conclusion of this year's campaign.
In the B/R writer's eyes, should they be able to net "some win-now talent back in return" for his services, moving on from the 21-year-old could be in the realm of possibility this offseason.