The NBA offseason is usually filled with a bunch of big trades and movement of players across the league. This is the time of the year when teams either start the rebuilding process, improve their roster, or make big moves to contend for a championship. With the Oklahoma City Thunder losing in the Western Conference Semifinals to the Dallas Mavericks 4-2. They have now shifted their focus to the offseason. This is an offseason for the Thunder with many question marks going in and how can Sam Presti improve this team with all the draft capital and assets to do so?
2022 NBA Off-Season Preview: What’s Next for The Thunder?
Season Recap
However, before we get talking about the future let’s look back at the remarkable 2023-2024 season this was for the Oklahoma City Thunder. They became the youngest team to ever get the number one seed and win a playoff series. The Thunder had the runner-ups for both MVP and Rookie of the Year. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was first-team All-NBA for the second straight season. Chet Holmgren made the All-Rookie first team, while Cason Wallace made All-Rookie second team. The Thunder were top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency, they led the league in three-point percentage as well as blocks. These are just some of the many team and individual successes they had this year.
What should be a scary sight for opposing teams is this is just the starting point of how good this Thunder team can potentially become. How good this Thunder team can be, is all going to be determined by how they improve their team through the offseason.
Projected Cap Space and Draft Picks
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35 Million in Projected Cap Space
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12th overall pick
The Thunder were rewarded with the 12th pick once again from the Houston Rockets. The Thunder should have around three roster spots available with the expiring contracts of Bismack Biyombo, Mike Muscala, and Gordon Hayward. So, they have roster room to add a rookie or two. They have four options for what to do with the 12th pick. They can either trade down and get a player later in the draft, they could trade up if they like a guy higher in the draft, they can stay put, or they can use this pick in a trade for a star player.
If they trade up it would most likely be for a guy like Donovan Clingan, or Alexandre Sarr to help with their big depth that they desperately need. Players to target if they stay put would be Cody Williams, the brother of Jalen Williams, Dalton Knecht, or Tidjane Salaun. The third option if they choose to trade down, guys to target would be Kyle Filipowski, Kel’el Ware, Zach Edey, and DaRon Holmes II. What the Thunder do will be determined by who they think will fit this team the most and they have the roster flexibility to draft not one but possibly two of them if they like more than one guy. The Oklahoma City Thunder will most likely not trade this pick for a proven player in the NBA as they have prioritized building through the draft.
Pending Free Agents and Possible Departures
Free Agents
- Isaiah Joe (Team option)
- Aaron Wiggins (Team option)
- Bismack Biyombo
- Mike Muscala
- Gordon Hayward
- Lindy Waters (Team option)
The Oklahoma City Thunder have two important players with team options that they will have to decide whether or not to pick up. The players are Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins. They are two very important role players for the Thunder and have been very important players in their success in the last couple of years.
Now, the Thunder could use the same approach they did with Lu Dort a couple of years ago where they declined their team options and gave them a pay raise, that they desperately deserve. The other option is they can wait till next year and pick up the options however, if they do that they would become unrestricted free agents as opposed to restricted free agents. If they do this approach they run the risk of losing two key rotational pieces next year. The rest of the OKC’s free agents all played minor roles with the team and aren’t expected to return.
Another important note is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made All-NBA first team in back-to-back years. Making him eligible to sign a super-max extension in the 2025 offseason that would make him the first player in NBA history to make 80+ million in one season. Since he is now eligible to sign that next offseason it now makes this offseason that much more important for the Thunder to improve this team with the cap flexibility they have.
Before, they have to start paying guys like Shai, Chet, and Williams. Down the road, they won’t have the same flexibility as they do this year to improve the team. Making this a pivotal off-season for the Thunder that could set them up for long-term success.
Trade Pieces
- Josh Giddey
- Draft picks
The biggest question for the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason is what to do with the 21-year-old Giddey who was benched in the playoff series against the Mavericks. Giddey who is eligible for a rookie extension this offseason for the Thunder has made it clear that this is the team he wants to play for. However, is it in the best interest of the Thunder to keep him around as he was struggling a lot this year and it doesn’t seem like he fits with the team anymore? A lot can change in a year to see if he can fit the Thunder moving forward.
The Thunder will probably not extend him this offseason and let his rookie contract play out once he becomes a restricted free agent. Then they will determine what to do with Josh Giddey. They will also most likely not trade Giddey as well unless a trade comes up that is too hard not to refuse. While a trade isn’t necessarily likely if the Thunder look to land a star Giddey along with some combination of future draft picks the Thunder have would get a deal done. Notably, they possess 16 first-round picks between now and 2030. This is what Sam Presti had to say about Josh Giddey’s future with the team.
Presti on Giddey’s on-court fit: “He’s 21. 21-year-olds generally have up-and-down years. He is tough, and he is clutch. He’s been asked to changed some things, and he hasn’t flinched one time. … I think he’s a significantly better player at the end of this season than he was…
— Joel Lorenzi (@jxlorenzi) May 28, 2024
Realistic Off-Season Targets
Oklahoma City has a lot of ways to improve this roster. They can improve through the draft, free agency, or trades. They have a lot of flexibility with the 12th pick to use, over 30 million in cap space, and future draft picks to use in a trade. Now the question becomes what path are they going to use to improve this team for next year. They will most likely do a combination of things as they have done previously.
With the draft class being weaker they won’t be able to improve as much through the draft, but they will definitely make a pick or two and try and develop those players. The big improvement will have to come through free agency or trades. The Thunder have a couple of holes they need to fix to get better for next year.
The first hole they need is size and rebounding as they were one of the worst teams in rebounding this year and got beat up down low in the postseason. They will probably add a big in the draft as well as through free agency or a trade of some kind. The second hole is to get another guard on the team as they really only have two guards in Shai and Giddey. They will especially need another one if they end up moving off of Giddey.
The third and final one is more wing depth and shooting help. You can never have enough wing depth in the NBA. For the shooting, even though they were the number one three-point shooting team by percentage in the regular season. When it came to the playoffs, they struggled shooting the ball so they can always add a veteran shooter who has experience in the postseason.
Trade
When the Thunder started this rebuild and made all those trades to accumulate draft capital, it set them up to be able to trade for a star player whenever they were ready to compete and win again. The need for that star is no longer there with the OKC’s early success paired with the emergence of Holmgren and Williams. Jalen Williams in his second year has improved drastically and is positioning himself to be an ideal co-star to Shai. Holmgren had one of the better rookie seasons we have seen in a while and is most likely going to be that third star for the Thunder. If Chet and Williams keep improving they are going to set the Thunder up to have a nice young big three that play well with each other for the next decade.
It is going to be important for these two to keep developing so the Thunder don’t have to trade for a star player with all of those draft picks. Instead, using the draft picks to trade for role players to help this team fill the necessary holes year in and year out to compete on a year-to-year basis. Johnson and Stewart would upgrade OKC’s roster in a meaningful way without requiring a ton of assets.
Stewart would give the Thunder an interior presence and rebound off the bench. He would also provide some solid floor spacing abilities as a big man. Johnson would provide the Thunder with some wing depth and three-point shooting. However, given OKC’s plethora of picks trading for a star can’t be ruled out. Markkanen would be the ideal target as he offers both elite floor spacing and a solid inside presence his skill set makes him capable of playing alongside OKC’s existing core.
Free agents
Given OKC’s roster needs this group of free agents makes sense to target. Claxton and Hartenstein are two centers that would improve upon the rebounding and size issues. Both players would also be intriguing defensive fits next to Chet. Anunoby would be a dream target and would give the Thunder one of the best three-and-D players in the league. Thompson and Trent would improve upon the spacing and both would be interesting fits next to Shai in the backcourt. Harris would give the Thunder a versatile four-man and someone OKC could buy low on after a disappointing playoff performance.
