Why would the Thunder get involved?

The Oklahoma City Thunder were in the NBA Finals in 2012, but the days of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook taking the court are long gone. This team is rebuilding right now and GM Sam Presti has set them up for a lot of future success by tying 35 total draft picks to the Thunder’s name. 

Having all of these draft resources through the years is going to allow the Thunder to constantly add more high-level prospects to their core group which already has a lot of potential. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddey, and others are all impressive-looking young talents in this league, which is why there is a lot to like about Oklahoma City. 

Just because they already have a lot of draft assets does not mean Presti will not be open to getting more. He could probably care less about getting Kevin Knox, but acquiring the Knicks 2022 second-round pick gives the Thunder a total of five draft picks this upcoming offseason and a lot of options on how to continue building their young core.

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Kenrich Williams has played well in OKC, but he is not a guy who is going to be around long-term and if they can get an immediate draft pick for him, why not make this trade? 

The worst thing that happens for the Thunder is that Kevin Knox does not play at all or does not fit their system and he becomes a free agent in the offseason. This really is no loss to the Thunder because in the end, they will just replace him with whoever they draft with the Knicks second-round pick, assuming it would convey.