Thunder land recent lottery-selected guard in unnecessary new trade idea
By Mark Nilon
![Nov 3, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) drives to the basket around Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports Nov 3, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) drives to the basket around Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3903,h_2195,x_0,y_229/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/157/01j2m7cejjnyb06kt2v1.jpg)
The OKC Thunder have been one of the more active ball clubs during this year's offseason what with their splashy signing of Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency and their late-June trade that sent Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Alex Caruso.
However, despite this high-end activity, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report is seemingly urging the franchise to go about and make even more moves before the start of the 2024-25 campaign, as he recently proposed a trade idea that, in his eyes, could be of serious benefit to the ball club.
Recent Thunder trade idea lands Warriors guard, Moses Moody
Moses Moody, B/R
Citing Kenrich Williams' reduced role within the Thunder's rotation this past season, Buckley believes the 29-year-old to be more expendable than ever, and the thought of swapping him out along with a future first-round pick for a much younger perimeter-oriented wing in Moses Moody and a soon-to-be third-year tweener forward in Gui Santos is suggested to be a high-upside move well worth considering.
Moody, in particular, would be the main attraction of this whole exchange for Oklahoma City, as the former lottery pick is coming off a career-best third season with the Golden State Warriors where he posted per-game averages of 8.1 points and 3.0 rebounds all while shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and 36.0 percent from deep.
Mark Cuban has a front-row seat for the Moses Moody Show 😅 pic.twitter.com/89bLmv3L3O
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 3, 2024
Still attached to his rookie-scale contract for the next season, the idea of adding on the high-upside 22-year-old to this historically successful young Thunder squad is certainly something that should pique the interest of any member or mere fan of the organization.
Of course, though incredibly entertaining to think about, in actuality, this proposed transaction seems to be coughing up quite a lot for a player at a position that, frankly, the team is overflowing with talent at.
Within coach Daigneault's arsenal out on the wing are the likes of Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, and Cason Wallace. Now, with the addition of Caruso, it's already become quite difficult to find scenarios in which all of these aforementioned ballers can come across playing time that they undoubtedly deserve.
Adding Moody into the mix would only complicate their enviable albeit complex wing rotation even more, which not only would add headaches for the coaching staff but, frankly, wouldn't be all that great for the young guard himself, as he's still in the stage of his career where experience on the hardwood is vital to his development.
Though from a value standpoint, it's hard to argue against the notion that swapping out Williams for Moody would be a solid maneuver to make, parting ways with a first-round pick to do so when the Thunder are already flush with ample talent out on the wing could be seen as rather unnecessary.
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