While it’s been made clear by the Oklahoma City Thunder front office that patience is a key part of the current rebuild, at some point the team will have the opportunity to trade for a piece to take that next big step. The way the roster is currently constructed, with tremendous young talent and a top-15 NBA player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City is a star away from being a real contender in the Western Conference.
Furthermore, the Thunder have the as much future draft capital of any team in the league meaning they could make nearly any trade happen. It just comes down to the right player being available at the right time.
One player that could emerge as a trade candidate in the next year or two is Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls. Especially if they decide to hit reset and make significant roster changes, he would be a piece that would return a solid haul of assets, which OKC has.
According to BetOnline, the Thunder are one of the teams that has been pinned as a potential next destination for LaVine.
Set to make between $40 and $48 million between now and the end of his contract, LaVine has been paid due to being one of the league’s premier scorers. Just last season, he averaged nearly 25 points per game while shooting 37.5% from beyond the arc.
It’s unclear how much it would take to acquire the Bulls guard — and whether or not the Thunder value him enough to make that type of deal — but there’s no question he would raise the immediate ceiling of this team.
Considering Oklahoma City isn’t a big free agent destination, the trade market is the quickest way to get better in the short term. Given he’s under contract for quite some time, that could be attractive to the Thunder.
There’s no indication that he’s available for trade, but LaVine at least has a betting chance to land in Oklahoma City for his next team if traded.
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