Why This Trade Makes Sense For The OKC Thunder

Realistically, the OKC Thunder probably will not even think about trading Luguentz Dort at the moment, especially after they traded everyone but him, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Darius Bazley this NBA offseason. 

In the event that they were to explore opportunities to trade the 21-year old wing, this trade could actually work out in their favor. Talen Horton-Tucker looks like a very talented young player that could blossom into a fantastic two-way player and a better overall offensive player than Dort. 

Last year, Talen Horton-Tucker spent a lot of time with the South Bay Lakers in the NBA G-League and played in 38 games with them. In those games, he averaged 18.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.4 steals and shot 42.3% from the floor, 30.8% from three-point range. Horton-Tucker has proven that he can be more than just an offensive player and given the opportunity, could rise to the occasion. 

Acquiring Horton-Tucker for Dort does not really make much of a difference in terms of talent or wins at the moment for OKC as neither player is close to reaching their full potential yet. The best part about this trade for the Thunder is the fact that they acquire yet another first-round pick. 

As mentioned earlier, Oklahoma City already owns the rights to 31 draft picks through the 2027 NBA Draft, making this pick potential number 32. Having draft picks gives any organization flexibility, especially in terms of how to rebuild, but having 32 draft picks gives OKC the freedom to basically do whatever they want.

They could explore trades for the best of the best in the NBA, they could bring in 5-6 very reliable role players to put around their young core, or they could even keep a majority of the picks and build one of the best young cores the NBA has ever seen!

Who knows what the OKC Thunder have planned over the next few years, but in the event that they decide to trade Luguentz Dort, this is definitely a trade worth considering.