The Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade is the gift that keeps on giving for the Oklahoma City Thunder, as on Tuesday night, they selected seven-foot-three center Aday Mara out of Michigan with the No. 12 pick from the Clippers, the final one from the 2019 deal.
Oklahoma City already won that trade by a landslide (and then some), but it could get even better. Gilgeous-Alexander is fresh off a back-to-back MVP season, and he will turn 28 in July, so the best is yet to come, which is scary for everyone except for the Thunder. They can win at least another title with him, and you can go ahead and make that plural.
The last thing OKC needed, at least from the perspective of every other team in the NBA, was to add another talented young player to the roster. Thanks to Kawhi Leonard's demand seven years ago to play alongside Paul George, they did just that. Little did the Clippers know that the player they needed was right in front of their faces, but they essentially gave him away for nothing.
Thunder use No. 12 pick from SGA trade to draft Aday Mara
All Los Angeles could hope for during the draft lottery was that the pick wouldn't vault into a high pick, making the trade sting even more. Still, having a lottery pick in a draft class this talented is still a major win for OKC.
The Clippers have a higher draft pick at No. 5, thanks to the Ivica Zubac trade in February, but that doesn't erase their mismanagement from 2019. Truly, nothing can do that, not when it comes to a generational player like Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Thunder couldn't be happier that SGA ended up where he was meant to be all along, helping them win their first title in franchise history. Now, they hope that Mara will play a role in getting them another. He is coming off a season where he helped the Wolverines win the national championship, and Sam Presti does have a knack for striking gold.
As much as Los Angeles wishes it could turn the page on SGA without the constant reminders, the front office did it to itself. Mara serves as yet another reminder, and it will be a long while before the Clippers can make it through a single day without thinking about what might've been. And the Thunder hope that the center will give LA another reason to regret what went down in 2019.
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