A quarter into the 2023-24 regular season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have graduated to playoff contender status. At 15-8, OKC possesses one of the best records in the league.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s rise to superstardom can be attributed to that. The arrival of Chet Holmgren and improvement of Jalen Williams also deserves a slice of the credit pie.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Thunder will make their first playoff appearance since 2020. This means they can be viewed as potential buyers in February’s trade deadline.
The biggest potential available player in this year’s deadline could be Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. The 26-year-old forward is fresh off a career season last year when he was named an All-Star.
This season, Markkanen is averaging 23.7 points on 48.7% shooting and 8.6 rebounds in 16 games. He’s shooting 39% from 3 on 8.5 attempts.
Markkanen is in the third year of a four-year contract. He is owed up to $35.3 million until the end of the 2024-25 season.
As the Jazz continue to fall in the standings and collect lottery balls as one of the worst teams in the league, it only makes sense Utah flips its best asset for draft capital and young players.
The Thunder have been mentioned by league personnel as one of three teams that could be a potential suitor for Markkenen, per NBA insider Jake Fischer. The other two are the Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks.
“The Thunder have so far been resistant to spend their draft capital and add to a burgeoning young playoff core, not wanting to rush past their breakfast and get to dinner before even thinking about lunch. But there is Davis Bertans’ $17 million salary to play with, plus OKC explored trading young guard Tre Mann prior to the season, sources said.”
Considering the tier of player Markkanen is and who the Thunder will be dealing with in Danny Ainge, odds are it’ll require more than just a package of future draft picks to acquire the All-Star forward. OKC will likely need to depart with some of the young talent that’s helped propel it to its current record.
The trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are likely off the table, but everybody else could be fair game. This means that the Jazz will likely demand some combination of Cason Wallace, Josh Giddey and Ousmane Dieng to headline any potential package to go along with several draft picks.
At that point, Sam Presti and the rest of the front office will discuss if it’s worth parting with young players on long-term controllable contracts for someone who could leave in 2025 but can make an immediate impact right now.
