As the Oklahoma City Thunder continues to take the league by storm, pundits are beginning to get anxious about potential moves they can make to improve their roster this season.
Swimming in draft capital and young prospects, the Thunder are spoiled with potential trade assets to make any move a realistic possibility for them.
If the Thunder wanted to make a massive trade right now, they theoretically could. But according to ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, they’d rather see what this young core can do first in the playoffs before making any drastic moves.
“I think they’re gonna keep letting this team grow and they are in a far different place than they were before this season. They knew they had a group that they believed in.
What you’ve seen now is each 10-game increment, they’ve gotten better. They are top five in offensive and defensive efficiency. Only Boston and Philadelphia are there.
They’re on a run where they beat the Celtics, Timberwolves, and Nuggets twice. They’re gonna keep letting this team grow. They have the players here. They have a group here that they can let get into the playoffs. Let them get through it.
They’re one of the three youngest teams in the league — San Antonio and Detroit are the other two; how are they doing? We’ve not seen a team and a group like this in a very long time. With a superstar like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and perhaps multiple All-Stars in the group around them. There’s nothing for this team to do at the trade deadline.
Now they want to go out and get maybe a big off their bench — they’re 29th in rebounding, something like that. But even their role players — Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe — these guys may grow into great role players on a championship team.
So you look at a team that’s (23-10) and the rest of the league all over the place — underachieving; behind schedule. They’re the ones who have to scramble and make trades.
Oklahoma City’s gonna just keep letting this team (play). They may have the group here, they may not have to go outside this group to really get where they want to go.”
Sounds like OKC is gonna let it ride it out with this group according to Woj:
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) January 3, 2024
This pretty much aligns with what the Thunder have preached throughout the entire season. OKC isn’t known for making all-in moves unless they have to. Considering the stage their core is at right now, they don’t.
The smart long-term move is to see what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams can do in the playoffs together before tweaking the roster for future playoff runs.
The fact the biggest NBA insider in the league is repeating this point further proves that fans shouldn’t expect an earth-shattering deal before this year’s trade deadline by OKC.
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