NBA Trade Talk: Why Onyeka Okongwu Would Elevate Oklahoma City's Ceiling

On Thursday afternoon, there will be an influx of trades happening around the league, as various teams buy and sell assets in what will be the last opportunity to do so until the offseason. While there have already been several significant deals made over the past month, deadline week itself has actually been relatively quiet. 

Sitting near the top of the Western Conference standings, the Oklahoma City Thunder is a team that is in a unique position ahead of the trade deadline. Well ahead of its expectations at this point in the season at 35-16, a patient rebuild has paid dividends.

Will the Thunder front office maintain that patience and only make a no-brainer deal between now and Thursday, or will a more aggressive approach be taken and assets be leveraged? 

In either case, Oklahoma City doesn't have to make a deal to be a legitimate playoff team with the talent to make noise. Sure, adding more win-now depth and talent would only raise the Thunder's ceiling, but this team isn't in a position where it necessarily needs to make a move. 

If Thunder GM Sam Presti and his staff do decide to make a trade, the assumption is that it would be for a frontcourt player who could provide size, rebounding and physicality. 

There's a variety of options that fit this mold, at many different price points as it relates to the package of assets it would take to acquire such a player. Oklahoma City could trade a handful of seconds for a backup big on an expiring contract, or make more of a splash with a large package and land a starting-caliber player that would become part of the long-term core.

One player who falls somewhere in the middle of that scale is Onyeka Okongwu of the Atlanta Hawks. At 6-foot-8, the former No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft hasn't necessarily found his groove in Atlanta. To be clear, he's been a solid piece, but has started in less than 12% of the games he's played in his career which isn't ideal for a player selected just outside the top five of a draft.

While the Hawks have historically had quite a bit of depth in the frontcourt which has resulted in a minutes crunch at his position, that wouldn't be the case in OKC. In fact, the Thunder doesn't have many true power forwards or centers, which may be somewhat by design with the team's style of play, but is also a void that needs to be filled. 

In many matchups, the Thunder can get away with playing small and with a fast pace, but especially in the playoffs, you want pieces that give you the flexibility to make adjustments within a series. Okongwu would provide that lineup versatility in the postseason, but would also be a great add for the remainder of the regular season. 

Although he's somewhat undersized for a player who can operate as a traditional power forward or center, he is strong and weighs 235 pounds. This would make him one of the more physically gifted players on the Thunder roster as it relates to overall size. He also boasts a defensive rebound rate of nearly 19%, which would be a huge help for Oklahoma City, which is one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the NBA. 

Okongwu is also the type of player who doesn't need the ball in his hands to make an impact and does much more than just score. This is the ideal type of player to integrate into this lineup, as he is a reliable play finisher, a solid rebounder and adds additional rim protection. 

It would likely take draft capital — in the first-round variety — as well as a young promising prospect and salary filler to make this type of deal work. Okongwu recently signed a four-year, $62 million extension that will result in him making between roughly $14 million and $17 million starting next season through the 2027-28 campaign. 

It's unclear if the Thunder will make a move ahead of Thursday's trade deadline, but Okongwu would be a quality option to consider.