Grade the trade: Thunder take West over, shun Warriors in blockbuster deal

A wild trade to cement OKC’s status as a Western

Conference powerhouse. Despite having the

second-youngest roster in the NBA, the

Oklahoma City Thunder finished as the top seed

in the fiercely competitive Western Conference

the previous season. In addition to Jalen

Williams making a significant sophomore jump

and Chet Holmgren placing second in the Rookie

of the Year vote, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate. This

summer, Sam Presti has finally taken a proactive

approach to team-building, rather than resting

on their laurels. OKC isn’t going to wait around to

survey the league and see what happens. As they

should, the Thunder are currently playing like a

club committed to winning everything.

The amazing thing about OKC’s rebuild is their

ability to assemble a competitive roster in the

near future while preserving long-term

sustainability and flexibility. The trade of Josh

Giddey for Alex Caruso was a historic robbery,

and Isaiah Hartenstein’s departure from the New

York Knicks solves OKC’s main defensive flaw—a

lack of physicality in the paint and on the boards.

OKC is now near the top, if not at the top, of the

Western Conference standings thanks to these

changes. My guess for the NBA Finals matchup

for the upcoming season is Celtics vs. Thunder.

Nevertheless, OKC continues to possess the

league’s largest pool of potential draft selections.

as well as plenty of young talent to float in trade

conversations. Even better, OKC still has the

financial flexibility to accommodate a max

contract. A new trade proposal from Greg Swartz

of Bleacher Report has OKC boosting its title

claim and one-upping the Golden State Warriors

with a blockbuster acquisition of Utah Jazz All-

Star Lauri Markkanen.

Here are the full details.

Thunder-Jazz trade to pair Lauri Markkanen and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, flatline Warriors

Oklahoma City Thunder receive…
Lauri Markkanen (27, Wing)

Utah Jazz receive…
Nikola Topic (18, Guard)
Ousmane Dieng (21, Wing)
Kenrich Williams (29, Wing)
2025 first-round pick (UTA)
2027 first-round pick (OKC)
2029 first-round pick (OKC)
2026 second-round pick (OKC)
2027 second-round pick (OKC)
2028 second-round pick (OKC)

To put it briefly, Oklahoma City acquires the most

sought-after trade target of the offseason without

having to give up even one starter or even make

any changes to their finest prospects. With two

lottery selections in Nikola Topic and Ousmane

Dieng, a reliable rotation wing in Kenrich

Williams, and enough draft money to placate

Danny Ainge while restarting Utah’s competitive

clock, the Jazz have pulled off a fantastic haul.

The Jazz would probably ask for more now. The

Thunder will find it difficult to keep Cason

Wallace out of these discussions even with Jalen

Williams and Chet Holmgren out of the picture,

particularly if Sam Presti is unwilling to give up

more than three first-round picks. OKC is able to

purchase more than three first-round selections.

though, so there’s a version of this trade in which

the Thunder basically coast on future picks.

Markkanen is due $18 million this season and

becomes eligible for a max extension in August.

OKC would need to plan around that inevitable

pay raise, while also accounting for Holmgren

and J-Dub’s inevitable rookie-scale max contracts

in a couple years. This OKC core will get

expensive eventually, especially if Wallace, Topic,

and all these lotto picks hit. That is the case for

OKC not cashing in their NBA Draft treasure

trove. The best way to circumvent the

restrictions of the new collective bargaining

agreement is to add contributors on four-year

rookie contracts. And yet, competitive windows

don’t stay open forever, even for teams in OKC’s

exceedingly unique position. The NBA is always

unpredictable. There’s no guarantee that OKC

can actually keep this group together for a

decade. As such, gunning for it now is a

reasonable, maybe even an essential approach.

Markkanen moves the needle in a big way,

adding one of the NBA’s best shooters and play-

finishers to a lineup brimming with rim-pressure

guards and high-level creators.

Markkanen is a true 7-footer who can wheel it

around screens into movement 3s, attack seams

in the defense as a straight-line driver, and

weaponize his size to score over mismatches.

Although he’s not much of a passer or even a

self-creator, OKC doesn’t really need that. He can

highlight the Thunder’s core while playing to his

strengths and thriving. For the Jazz, Topic is a

fantastic possibility, but Dieng will require a few

more years to develop. In a future trade, Kenrich

Williams might potentially acquire one or more

additional second-round picks. All that’s needed

to truly sweeten the pot would be a bit extra, be

it Cason Wallace or a couple extra first-round

selections. It is conceivable that a competitive

market could raise prices to Utah’s advantage.

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Grade the trade: Thunder take West over, shun Warriors in blockbuster deal