Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Oklahoma City Thunder

As mentioned earlier, the Oklahoma City Thunder already traded for Kemba Walker this offseason, but this is far from the final move they will be making this summer. This trade was just a stepping stone for them, as between the draft, free agency and the rest of the offseason, the Thunder have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. 

With the rights to 40 draft picks through the 2027 NBA Draft, the OKC Thunder basically can make any trade that they desire, which is why Oklahoma City is expected to be extremely busy this offseason. There have been rumblings about a potential Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trade, but why would GM Sam Presti and this Thunder front-office trade their best young talent? 

SGA is the focal point of the Thunder right now and for the future, so they are definitely not going to be looking to trade him, but they could potentially leverage other guys on their roster if they are looking to add a ton of talent to win now. Guys like Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley and Theo Maledon are definitely expendable for the right price, but none of these guys are going to be on the move this offseason. 

Sam Presti has a “master plan” that is already in motion and this plan will gain traction during the 2021 NBA Draft. The Thunder got unlucky with the Draft Lottery, as they ended up with the 6th pick in the draft, but they do also own the 16th, 18th, 34th, 36th and 55th picks in this year’s draft, opening the door for plenty of trade opportunities. 

Oklahoma City is going to likely keep this 6th pick, unless they look to move up into the Top-5 this year, but all the other picks in play here could be leveraged in trades for the Thunder to add more talent to their roster. 

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With a backcourt duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kemba Walker next season, as well as the possibility of adding some high-level, young talents through the draft, the Thunder will finally have a strong core to actually begin “phase two” of their rebuild process. 

Oklahoma City is not going to be keeping all 40 of their draft picks over the next few years, so what will they be looking to do with all of these assets? They are going to look to trade a vast majority of them of course! 

The Thunder gathered all of these draft assets with the mindset of having the capability to bring in one or two established superstars in this league. Maybe it won’t happen this offseason, but the Thunder want to create a championship roster over the next few years, which is why guys like Bradley Beal, Ben Simmons, Damian Lillard, Zion Williamson, Collin Sexton, Brandon Ingram and even Karl-Anthony Towns could be on their radar.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not going anywhere this offseason and based on how highly the Thunder talk of him, he is going to be in Oklahoma City for a very long time. It would not be shocking however if the Thunder looked to leverage some of their assets this offseason not only to move up in the draft and get some of the best young talents available, but leverage some assets to acquire another All-Star caliber player. 

They may have finished near the bottom of the league this season, but the Oklahoma City Thunder are on to something and in a matter of years, they are going to be one of the best franchises in the NBA.