The Oklahoma City Thunder have been busy in the early days of NBA training camp making some trades. They completed a trade with the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, acquiring Maurice Harkless, a 2029 second-round pick, and other draft considerations in exchange for Vit Krejci.
Harkless was absorbed into the disabled player exception that the Thunder were granted by the league following the injury to Chet Holmgren. Holmgren was selected No. 2 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft out of Gonzaga but he will be sidelined for his entire first season after suffering a Lisfranc injury playing in Jamal Crawford’s Pro-Am, The Crawsover, in Seattle.
Harkless wasn’t long for Oklahoma City, as he was part of their most recent trade completed on Thursday with the Houston Rockets. Harkless, Derrick Favors, Ty Jerome and Theo Maledon are heading to Houston, along with a 2026 second-round pick acquired previously from the Hawks. In exchange, the Thunder are receiving David Nwaba, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss.
This is a deal that leaves a lot of people scratching their heads as to why it was made. Both teams are sitting at 18 players on their roster, a number that has to get cut down to 15 by October 17th, when the regular season is getting underway.
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There is a chance some of the eight players involved in this deal are let go by their new teams to pare the roster down. Money was the motivating factor in completing this trade from the Thunder’s perspective.
Oklahoma City is now about $10 million under the tax threshold after completing this deal. Every dollar counts for these front offices, as they can now spend money elsewhere, such as taking on a contract a team wishes to move, with draft compensation attached to it.
Jerome and Maledon have a shot at sticking around with the Rockets as they are both young and fit the team’s timeline. Favors and Harkless provide veteran leadership, but it would not be surprising if they are flipped for more assets or bought out so that they can land elsewhere, possibly with a contending team.
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It would not be shocking to see the Thunder move on from everyone they acquired other than Nwaba. He and Maledon are the only players with contracts that run beyond this season. They are signed through 2024, but both players have team options for that season.
