After losing the NBA Cup Championship game, the Thunder rebounded against a depleted Magic team, winning 105-99 behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 35 points. That got the Thunder to a conference-best 21-5 record. However, people are claiming that the Thunder should make a trade. This happened after their disappointing loss in the NBA Cup championship game to the Bucks, where they shot 5-32 from three.
With January right around the corner and the NBA trade deadline in February, people think the Thunder should be heavily involved in trade talks. They believe the Thunder need more shooters and that Shai still needs help even after the moves they made in the offseason. Here’s why this Thunder team shouldn’t make a trade before the NBA’s trade deadline.
Why The Thunder Shouldn’t Make a Trade This Season
Not Fully Healthy Yet
The Thunder have been dealing with multiple injuries all year and they haven’t been fully healthy yet, whether you are talking about the injury to Chet Holmgren or the one to Isaiah Hartenstein. This is something the Thunder didn’t have to face a year ago as they were one of the healthiest teams. However, they are also on track to surpass the 57-25 record from last season. Even with the injuries, they are still improving as a team and they look better now. It makes no sense for Sam Presti to make a big trade before the deadline without seeing what this team can do at full strength.
Why make a trade for something you think you need when you might already have it in-house? This was the same tactic Presti did last year when everyone believed the Thunder should make a trade and capitalize on all of their draft assets. However, he chose not to. Instead, Presti opted for a smaller trade to see what that group could do in the playoffs and reassess things in the offseason. That led OKC to trade for Alex Caruso and sign Hartenstein. This should be the same tactic they follow this year and see what this team can do when fully healthy.
Second-Best Record in The NBA
Another reason why they shouldn’t make a trade is they have the second-best record in the NBA with a three-game advantage over the second seed in the West. They are on track to once again be the number one seed in the West and are still in play to have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. They have done this all even without being fully healthy.
Teams usually make trades before the trade deadline to upgrade their roster and make a last-ditch playoff push. Also, teams make trades to improve their roster knowing they aren’t talented enough to beat teams higher than them in the standings. These two usual requirements aren’t things the Thunder need to do. So, why make a trade if you don’t have to?
Young but Talented Enough to Win
A lot of people forget how young this team is despite how good they are right now. Outside of Kenrich Williams and Alex Caruso, everyone on the Thunder is 26 or younger. Their two co-stars next to Shai are Jalen Williams, who is still only 23 years old, and Chet Holmgren, who is 22. Even though this team has been one of the best teams in the last two seasons, they are still going to go through struggles and growing pains with how young they are. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t talented enough to win a ring, as they have shown they are ready.
For example, if the Boston Celtics or Denver Nuggets gave up on their cores too early, they wouldn’t have won their championship. The Thunder should do the same thing and not make a big huge trade when they don’t have to. They should let this core ride it out and climb the uphill battle together just like the Celtics and the Nuggets did. It took Boston and Denver a couple of playoff struggles before they won it all, and that might have to be the case for this Thunder team.
The Last Word
Finally, there are only a couple of reasons why the Thunder make a trade. The first is to free up some future roster spots for their upcoming draft picks. The second one is trading for someone to help with one of their weaknesses. Those are the only two reasons why the Thunder might make a trade. However, even with those two reasons, there is no need for this team to make a trade. They are talented enough right now to win it all; they just need to be healthy when the playoffs come.
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