Ranking recently listed top trade targets for OKC Thunder in 2024-25

The OKC Thunder are gunning for glory this coming campaign following a magical run in 2023-24 where they surprised the masses with a 57-win, top-seeded finish in the Western Conference standings and saw rising stud cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander establish himself as a legitimate superstar.

To the delight of many, Sam Presti and company only managed to make the team's stock rise even higher with their offseason efforts, for they went about and addressed the few, albeit still glaring weaknesses that proved fatal in their semifinal playoff demise against the Dallas Mavericks.

From free agency signee Isaiah Hartenstein's rebounding efforts and physicality to trade acquisition Alex Caruso's elite 3-and-D abilities, Oklahoma City seems to have tied up their loose ends from last year and is ready to take the leap forward into the championship-favorite conversation.

That said, even Mark Daigneault's incredibly deep and arguably strongest roster in the entire association still may wish to add on some extra firepower to stockpile their royalty of riches, and, if they were to try and do so via the trade route, Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz believes there are a few players, in particular, the Thunder should be strongly considering a pursuit for.

Ranking top OKC Thunder trade targets in 2024-25

3. Russell Westbrook

While seeing the franchise legend return to his old stomping grounds and play through the twilight years of his career in the blue, orange, and yellow threads may be appealing from an emotional standpoint, when it comes to roster needs he's without question the least desirable option of the three mentioned by Swartz.

On the one hand, there is, in fact, some appeal to hypothetically adding Russell Westbrook to this Thunder club from a skill-set standpoint.

With the departure of Josh Giddey this summer, Mark Daigneault's depth chart lacks a reliable set-up artist and tried and true backup one guard to lead an offense when SGA is catching a breather on the sidelines.

Though he's certainly lost a step during these latter stages of his professional tenure, the Brodie is still a quality dime-dropper and on-court quarterback who averaged 11.1 points, 4.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game with the Clippers in 2023-24 en route to a seventh-place finish in the Sixth Man of the Year race.

That said, with how stockpiled OKC's backcourt talent pool is what with the likes of SGA, Caruso, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, and Isaiah Joe already slated to be vying for minutes that will be extremely hard to distribute, bringing on a player of Westbrook's ilk, who is still quite prone to turnovers and is far from a reliable floor spacer (shoots 30.4 percent from deep for his career) might not be the right move to make... not now, at least.

2. Dennis Schroder

Like Westbrook, Dennis Schroder is a former member of the Thunder organization who endeared himself to the fanbase with his astounding on-court play and all-around efforts.

Last he was seen donning the Oklahoma City threads, he was dropping career-best averages of 18.9 points, 4.0 assists, 3.6 rebounds on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from distance en route to an upset second place finish in the Sixth Man of the Year race.

Since his departure from Loud City, however, things have gotten a bit less glamorous for the German-based baller, as he's found himself suiting up for five different franchises in five years, including two last season in the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets.

Despite his lessened league-wide status, Schroder still sports a style of play that is beneficial for a team in need of a spark plug reserve guard who can set up teammates and buy a bucket at a moment's notice.

As Swartz noted in his piece, bringing in a good insurance policy behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could be argued as the team's "top priority" as we approach the start of training camp, and, should the rebuilding Nets be willing to accept a second-round draft pick prioritized trade package, he could be a low-cost acquisition to further fill out their second-unit floor general needs.

1. Simone Fontecchio

Even though Swartz believes adding another point guard behind SGA should be the main objective for the Thunder, there's a case to be made that bringing on a legitimate power forward option should be ahead in the importance pecking order.

With this in mind, Simone Fontecchio could be a tremendous grab for this rotation.

The former undrafted free agent broke onto the scene last season following his mid-season move to the Detroit Pistons. In 16 games played with the franchise, the 28-year-old posted impressive averages of 15.4 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from distance.

Though Jalen Williams was without question a tremendous option to have manning the primary four spot in 2023-24, considering his less-than-ideal 6-foot-5, 211-pound frame, having him slotting in long-term at the position is likely not the best-case scenario for the title-hungry franchise.

At 6-foot-7, Fontecchio has a better build for a modern-day power forward, while his highly athletic, inside-out style of play could prove to be a perfect add to this OKC scheme.

While Swartz correctly suggested acquiring the third-year stud may prove to be a bit complicated considering his impressive play with the Pistons last year, considering they are in a clear rebuild mode and, in turn, could prioritize future draft capital over all else, the Thunder could afford to over pay in a trade offer to land the Euro stud.