Will Ajay Mitchell's Injury Affect OKC Thunder's Trade Strategy?

Oklahoma City has been one of the league’s best all season, but it might have a new hole to fill.

On Friday, the Thunder announced that rookie guard Ajay Mitchell had surgery to address a turf toe strain and will be re-evaluated in 10-12 weeks. Over the past few weeks, Mitchell had emerged as a key part of the Thunder’s rotation and was a strong candidate to make an All-Rookie team. 

However, his absence adds some questions to the Thunder’s upcoming weeks. Mitchell’s time frame leaves him out through at least late March, but he could easily return before the playoffs. 

Still, that leaves Oklahoma City without a solid rotational piece for the next two months. This season, Mitchell has averaged 6.4 points, two rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.7 steals in 16.5 minutes per game. Shooting 50.6% from the field and 43.1% from 3-point range, Mitchell has already shown he is a skilled shooter and scorer.

With the Thunder missing Mitchell’s spark for significant time and the obvious issue of trusting a rookie to perform at the same level in the postseason, this injury could lead the Thunder to search for another ball handler in the trade market. With the NBA trade deadline still weeks away, the Thunder have plenty of time to make a deal, but they haven’t been consistently linked to any name outside of Cam Johnson thus far.

Of course, getting another guard could be short-sighted for the Thunder, given that Alex Caruso and Chet Holmgren will be returning in the coming weeks and could take much of the ball-handling reps after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. Considering the Thunder’s success, shaking things up by bringing another player to demand touches could be unwise, as getting their stars more touches was a key part of sending Josh Giddey to Chicago.

Getting another guard could also be an overcorrection for what is a minor injury in the big picture. Not only will Mitchell be back this season, but the Thunder also have Nikola Topic waiting to make his debut in 2025-26. 

Sure, Mitchell’s injury is concerning and takes away an important part of the Thunder’s bench unit. However, making any trades specifically to address that might not make much sense, especially when the team gets back to full strength.