Does this trade make sense for the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The Thunder would not be giving up a valuable draft pick, Kenrich Williams is not in their future plans and KZ Okpala is a young, athletic talent the Thunder could add to their core, so there is really no reason why Sam Presti would not be interested in this trade.
Okpala is definitely worth taking a risk on from OKC’s perspective because of the fact that he can be a pest defensively. Standing 6’8” with a 7’2” wingspan, KZ Okpala can be a real difference-maker on defense given chances to prove himself.
In fact, Okpala has played at least 15 minutes in each of the Heat’s last four games and in total, he has recorded two steals and four blocks. The Heat are 3-1 in those games and Okpala has recorded a plus-minus of +24 in total across those games.
Other than Darius Bazley and Aleksej Pokusevski, the Thunder do not really have many impactful forwards and they really do not have a versatile, athletic and lengthy player like Okpala on their roster.
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He is in the final year of his contract, but over the next few months, the Thunder could really get a grasp for how he could fit in with their system and who knows, maybe Okpala could carve out a role in Oklahoma City as a versatile defender.
There is no risk associated with this trade for the Thunder and at the cost of a worthless second-round pick, this trade is worthwhile for Oklahoma City.
