No rumors, because there are very unlikely to be any. But it struck me that OKC has a recent history of (a) stockpiling draft capital (to a RIDICULOUS degree, far more than they can reasonably use) and (b) absorbing other team's unwanted contracts as a way to do (a). How about they spend some of that draft capital and absorb Dame's contract? Of course, Dame will squeal and refuse to play, but OKC is actually pretty damn good now, and they could gamble that he could come around, or if not, turn around and trade him later, possibly for a markup, as they have done in the past (see Chris Paul, Al Horford). And it would just be SO SWEET to say fuck you to Aaron Badloss and Pat Riley. And, it must be said, Dame.
They won’t trade a superstar to their in division up and coming rival. But if they did…Who do you ask for? Giddey, one of the Williams, Dort….Mills? And picks.
I mean, look at these picks: You'd have to wait a bit but they could send us this package of players (obviously Dort is the only real value here, which is why OKC wouldn't mind trading for an unhappy Dame [they drafted Cason Wallace who is sort of a Dort clone]):
Why not? If Dame thought we were a contender in his window, he'd be staying. It's not like we'd be meeting OKC in the WCF. IF we get there it'll probably be in a minimum of 5 years at a VERY optimistic estimate, and Dame will be a broken-down old relic by then.
C'mon Presti, ROLL THE DICE. You can bet that Dame's preferred team list would magically embiggen if he was stuck in Oklahoma.
They could help if they value Herro. But they don't need Dame. They need the ball to be in SGA's hands when the game is on the line.
I could see them being part of a larger deal where they dispose of some of those draft picks. How far under the cap are they currently?
OKC is messing up by getting too good too fast. The Thunder need a good wholesome tank next year to improve their 1st round pick.
Driving up the price for a billionaire to buy them up and move them back to SEA. Why fight with Lebron over an expansion team in '26 when you can just get prime SGA, young firepower and 100 draft picks to reload and replenish?
If we can speculate Utah might make a trade, OKC is no different. I'd want Sam Presti to include his wife in any deal, though.
The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. Presti literally has 22 players right now (I read somewhere) and has to get down to 15 by training camp. He HAS to trade. Meanwhile, he has a bazillion draft picks and no room to play them because he already has a shit ton of good young players. Why not just acquire the superstar who's sitting out there with assets that you HAVE to get rid of? It's not like Presti hasn't done this before - see Chris Paul. And it's not like Shai hasn't shown that he can play next to a hall-of-fame PG and have the Thunder flourish - see Chris Paul.
