The Oklahoma City Thunder enter the 2024 NBA trade deadline as buyers for the first time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll go all out for an addition.
The Thunder (35-15) are in first place in the Western Conference standings and have blossomed into contenders thanks to their MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the ascensions of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.
OKC’s biggest weakness is on the boards. It ranks near the bottom in most rebounding statistics: They’re bottom five in both rebounding rate and rebound averages. This means the Thunder likely need to target a backup big to help fix that problem.
But according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe on a recent “The Lowe Post” podcast episode, that might not be the case. He has heard different predictions around the league on what the Thunder could do:
“The intel — much as they would probably like it to be — is just all over the place on Oklahoma City. I’ve had people tell me, ‘Based on our conversations, we think they’re gonna be aggressive.’
And I’ve had other people tell me, ‘Based on our conversations, they’re probably going to stand pat and do the thing where they stand pat and just let it ride in the playoffs.’
They do want to see what this team looks like in the playoffs. It’s a young team. They do want to see how Josh Giddey reacts to playoff defense. … See how Shai’s foul drawing translates to the playoffs. … Just see how they react.”
With less than a couple of days until the trade deadline, one of the most plugged-in NBA media personalities is still unknown what the Thunder could do, which historically lines up with how quiet the organization is.
