Sports Illustrated NBA insider Brett Siegel recently published an article on NBA draft intel he has heard on the eve of the draft.
The most interesting piece in the article regarding the Oklahoma City Thunder involves them calling the Atlanta Hawks about forward John Collins.
“In regards to teams that could possibly be interested in moving a higher pick in this year’s draft for John Collins, sources said the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder have all been in contact with Atlanta.”
The most likely pick involved would be the No. 12 pick the Thunder own. Collins, who is 24 years old, currently has four years (which includes a player option) remaining on his contract that pays him out $102 million.
I doubt a trade happens due to multiple reasons: Collins is a bit too old to fit the current timeline; who knows how he fits with probable No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren; attaching the team with that large of a contract limits their financial flexibility for the future.
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While Collins is a nice player who could fit well with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, the combination of his age and contract makes a trade not make a ton of sense right now for the Thunder. This is the type of move the Thunder could make as soon as next summer whenever the team is exiting the rebuilding stage of their core and are ready to start winning once again.
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