Why This Trade Makes Sense For The OKC Thunder
Draft picks, cap space and young talent. These are the three things GM Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder front-office are looking to get, which are the three things they get in this trade with Charlotte.
Cody Zeller is in his 8th season in the league and while he is a reliable center, averaging about 8.6 points and 6.0 rebounds over the course of his career, he would be nothing more than a mentor and “one-year loan” type player for the Thunder. He could be a mentor for young frontcourt players like Isaiah Robey and rookie Aleksej Pokusevski, a young international prospect for the Thunder and very high on moving forward.
As mentioned before, Cody Zeller is also in the final year of his contract, and by trading away Horford and having Zeller only until the end of the season, they would fee up about $28M in cap space, giving them enough money to potentially sign two max-contract, superstar players in the offseason.
Oklahoma City is always looking to acquire young talent and that is exactly what they can get from a guy like Malik Monk. He has struggled off the court early on in his career and has made some mistakes with substance abuse, but on the court, Monk has the potential to be a very well-rounded offensive player.
In college at Kentucky, he was one of the premier shooters and offensive players in the country in 2016 and was arguably the best player for the Wildcats. While he game has not translated as well as others to the NBA from college, Monk still has a lot of potential and with a new team, he could grow into a very solid player. Expectations would not be high for him and he could develop at his own pace, which could be exactly what he needs in order to find success in this league.
And lastly, getting draft picks are valuable, even if they are second-round picks. Acquiring Brooklyn’s second-rounder in this upcoming year’s draft from Charlotte would give OKC five total picks in the 2021 NBA Draft and plenty of options in terms of draft young talent or trading for established talent.
The possibilities on how to build this roster in Oklahoma City are endless and GM Sam Presti is going to have a lot of fun assembling what looks to be a very promising and exciting roster in OKC over the next few years.
