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Thunder Are a Team to Monitor on Trade Market Per Report, Could Make Huge Move

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Nathaniel Holloway | Last updated Dec 19, 2024 1:23 PM ET

So far this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been one of the best teams in the NBA. They currently hold a 20-5 record, which has them sitting first in the Western Conference.

The Thunder are coming off a disappointing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup final, but they are still the team to beat in the West. The Thunder have remained at the top of the West despite being without one of their best young players in Chet Holmgren, who has been out since early November with a hip injury.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is once again in the MVP conversation and Jalen Williams is putting together the best season of his young career, which could lead to him being named an All-Star. Oklahoma City overall has one of the youngest and deepest teams in the NBA, but they do still have some areas to patch.

Those areas include their frontcourt depth and shooting woes. While Holmgren will improve their frontcourt depth once he returns, the only other big man on their roster is Isaiah Hartenstein, who also missed time due to injury early this season. The Thunder have also struggled to shoot the ball at times this season, which could hurt them once the playoffs begin.

According to Forbes’ Evan Sidery, the Thunder are a team to monitor on the trade market due to their abundance of young talent and draft capital. He also mentioned that because of this, Oklahoma City can pull off basically any trade they want if they decide to get aggressive.

While the Thunder will likely keep their roster intact at the Feb. 6 trade deadline, they could look to make a move to fix their problems or add another star to pair alongside Shai. The Thunder are set to have four first-round picks in the loaded 2025 draft, which they could move to upgrade their roster.

With the Thunder already a championship contender, fans should not get their hopes up of them landing another star, but they could upgrade their depth by making some moves before the deadline.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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