At the beginning of the 2019-20 season, it seemed fairly obvious what the Oklahoma City Thunder would do by February.
They’d struggle to keep up in the hyper-competitive Western Conference and continue to liquidate their valuable assets — the expiring contract of Danilo Gallinari, Steven Adams (whose deal expires in 2021) and maybe Chris Paul, who’s owed a lot of money but who would probably want one more shot at a ring. They’d already acquired so many picks through the 2026 draft it seemed like that was the obvious route.
But there was an unexpected twist that continued on Thursday night. The Thunder are GOOD. They took down the Houston Rockets 113-92 and held James Harden to just 17 points on the same night of Russell Westbrook’s return to play the team that drafted him. They’re 11-2 in their past 13 contests and 22-16, and as it stands, they’re a leading nominee for The Team No One Wants to Face in the Playoffs, especially when they play CP3, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Shroder all together. From Hoops Hype earlier this week:
Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder have played 206 minutes together so far. During that time, they have outscored opponents by a ridiculous 26.7 points per 100 possessions. Their offensive rating (125.9) has been the best in the NBA among all three-man lineups with as much playing time together.
Plus, Paul looks rejuvenated, doing stuff like this and stepping up late in games:
That's just rude, Mr. Paul. 😏 #nutmeg #havinghisway @CP3 | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/B3NEE9V9xU
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 10, 2020
But the trade deadline presents a conundrum. Do they deal Paul to a team that could use a point guard to speed up the rebuild, especially when they have like 20 picks in the next six years? Do they wait to send Adams elsewhere? Can they risk losing Gallinari for nothing (I think the answer to that is no, sadly)?
Another question that had some late-December buzz to it: what if the Thunder are BUYERS in a few weeks with all those picks to spare?
Chris Paul still got it, man. That was fun. Love the 3-guard lineup to finish—so many shot creators can make it hard to contain. It'll be fascinating to see what they do prior to the deadline. Some league executives I recently spoke with believe OKC is a stealth buyer. We'll see. pic.twitter.com/b5PbJTr9eb
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) January 1, 2020
This is where it gets tricky, and there’s still plenty of time before Feb. 6 to answer those questions. The Thunder could fall apart between now and then, and that would make Sam Presti’s job a lot easier.
But if they keep this up? It’ll be quite a debate about what the right move is.
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