Toronto Raptors Receive: G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC 2021 1st Round Pick (Pick #6), BOS 2021 1st Round Pick (Pick #16), MIA 2021 1st Round Pick (Pick #18)
Oklahoma City Thunder Receive: F Pascal Siakam, TOR 2021 1st Round Pick (Pick #4)
Now this is a very interesting trade scenario that may be my favorite for the Oklahoma City Thunder if they were to explore trade opportunities for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ahead of Thursday’s draft. A lot factors into this trade and when it is all laid out, this is actually a trade that makes complete sense for both the Raptors and Thunder.
Starting with the Raptors, they have expressed interest in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over the years and now, with Kyle Lowry being an unrestricted free agent, they could really use him as a young combo-guard to pair with Fred VanVleet in the backcourt, another combo-guard.
Toronto owns the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft, which is expected to be used for Jalen Suggs, but if they are to acquire SGA, then they will not necessarily need Suggs, hence why they would be interested in moving down two spots to No. 6 overall.
Here, they could end up with one of the best forwards in the draft in either Scottie Barnes or Jonathan Kuminga, whichever one is not drafted by Orlando 5th overall. Then, the Raptors would also own the No. 16 and No. 18 picks, two first-round picks later on that they could use to add some more frontcourt help and scoring to replace Siakam.
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As for Oklahoma City, not only do they get an All-Star caliber player in Pascal Siakam, who could take over things in their frontcourt immediately, but they would get the No. 4 pick to draft Jalen Suggs and replace Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Suggs is one of the best guard prospects in the draft and is a combo-guard much like SGA, which is why he could fit in perfectly with the Thunder.
Oklahoma City would then have a starting unit of Kemba Walker, Jalen Suggs, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley and Pascal Siakam that they could roll out next season, assuming that they would play small ball with Siakam, which is definitely a really solid group.
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Giving up all three of their first-round picks this year could be a deal-breaker for the Thunder, as could trading away SGA in general, but this is a really strong trade package that makes sense for both teams involved in terms of adding talent and getting fair value in return.
The Thunder would still look to add another high-level talent to their roster in the event that they make this deal with Toronto, but overall, this is definitely a trade package that they could ponder over and consider from the Raptors.
