{"id":175157,"date":"2026-01-30T07:00:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=175157"},"modified":"2026-01-29T23:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T04:28:21","slug":"five-players-thunder-could-move-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/30\/five-players-thunder-could-move-trade-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Players the Thunder Could Move at the Trade Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After starting out 24-1 in the regular season, the Thunder have gone 13-9 since then. It seems that teams are starting to find ways to win over the defending champs. Nothing has been easy so far, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/22\/can-okc-thunder-keep-winning-even-with-injuries\/\" target=\"_self\">injuries are also adding to their dilemma<\/a> as well. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/02\/what-should-fans-expect-from-okc-this-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Closing in on the trade deadline<\/a>, OKC may need to cut it close and move some of its bench players to make some desperate improvements.<\/p>\n<p>This isn&#8217;t the ideal thing for a known team with a very competitive squad. For starters, the Thunder haven&#8217;t moved players in a regular-season trade since 2024, when they acquired <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/haywago01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gordon Hayward<\/a>. So far, while everything is sounding hypothetical for the trade deadline, OKC can still probably make some changes as well.<\/p>\n<h2>Five Players the Thunder Could Move at the Trade Deadline<\/h2>\n<p>Despite having the best record in the NBA right now, it doesn&#8217;t help that the Thunder are visibly struggling. This has been the most vulnerable they&#8217;ve been so far, and it&#8217;s safe to say that maybe a trade can help in fixing those problems.<\/p>\n<p>Here are five players that the Thunder can hypothetically consider putting in a package deal.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Isaiah Joe<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 800px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBn24rpVhF\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3072px; aspect-ratio: 3072\/2081;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>In the last 10 games, you could actually expect a lot from <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/joeis01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Joe<\/a>. However, he&#8217;s been struggling with consistency&#8212;like many other players on the roster. Able to provide a much-needed spark off the bench with his three-point shooting, Joe makes a promising piece for the trade deadline. OKC can definitely consider putting him in a package with some picks (although <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/11\/21\/top-5-thunder-trades-engineered-by-sam-presti\/\" target=\"_self\">Sam Presti may disagree on that<\/a>). In games where he played over 10 minutes, Joe hasn&#8217;t been that efficient, especially in recent games against the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/game\/ind-vs-okc-0022500641\/box-score\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pacers<\/a> and the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/game\/TOR-vs-OKC-0022500653\/box-score\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Raptors<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">OKC needs to trade for a wing shooter immediately.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bradley Housh (@BradleyHoush) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BradleyHoush\/status\/2017073661686034548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h3>2. Cason Wallace<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 800px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBkZdRx3Y8\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3072px; aspect-ratio: 3072\/2048;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>Another player struggling as of late, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wallaca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cason Wallace<\/a>, was a huge revelation in the 2025 playoffs. This season, however, has been quite a struggle for him as he&#8217;s yet to showcase a consistent game where he&#8217;s managed to play his cards well. Sure, he&#8217;s still one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/03\/cason-wallace-dpoy-odds-skyrocket-with-recent-feat\/\" target=\"_self\">league leaders in steals<\/a>, but injuries and dry spells really hurt his case for the rotation. That being said, he&#8217;s still a reliable defender who is grinding out on the court and playing like it&#8217;s a one-point game. As the only alternate point guard to <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>, you need more of a playmaker who can play both ways.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Jaylin Williams<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175170\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175170\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Jan 29, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) boxes out Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) in the second quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"wp-image-175170 size-large\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28116338_168402037_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175170\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan 29, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) boxes out Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) in the second quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While he&#8217;s been extremely reliable for the Thunder, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija07.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylin Williams<\/a> has made himself known well this season. With multiple injuries among big men in the rotation, J-Will&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/02\/jaylin-williams-approach-2025-26-season-okc\/\" target=\"_self\">confidence to play more minutes<\/a> has been worth watching. Heading into the trade deadline, OKC needs a big man who could complement well with <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmgch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chet Holmgren<\/a> on the five. Williams and a few picks could turn a lot of heads and help bring Oklahoma City a fine scoring big.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h3>4. Luguentz Dort<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175172\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175172\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Jan 27, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) walks away from a scuffle with New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"wp-image-175172 size-large\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28099999_168402037_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan 27, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) walks away from a scuffle with New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A premier defender and delivering threes like a shotgun to the chest, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dortlu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lu Dort<\/a> seems untouchable to begin with. However, he can also be the key to a brighter future for the Thunder &#8212; by trading him. So far, we&#8217;ve seen Dort <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/12\/18\/dorts-3pt-struggles-alarming-for-okc\/\" target=\"_self\">regress in his shooting<\/a>, which is the only thing that he offers well aside from his elite-level defense. At this point, Lu could well be a high-value piece for OKC. The Thunder can consider getting a two-way guard with better shooting. With the right package, Dort and a few picks can even <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/29\/giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-rumors-put-okc-in-the-spotlight\/\" target=\"_self\">bring in a star-level player.<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">it\u2019s all fun and games until OKC trades 4 first round picks + a second for Giannis<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; silva surfa \ud83c\udfc4\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2642\ufe0f (@dvdltmr) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dvdltmr\/status\/2017058131550118231?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>5. Ousmane Dieng<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_175173\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-175173\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Jan 23, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng (13) shoots as Indiana Pacers guard\/forward Aaron Nesmith (23) defends during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"wp-image-175173 size-large\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/USATSI_28072225_168402037_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-175173\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jan 23, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Ousmane Dieng (13) shoots as Indiana Pacers guard\/forward Aaron Nesmith (23) defends during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>No other Thunder player should be on trade deadline watch than <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diengou01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ousmane Dieng<\/a>. While he&#8217;s just 22 years old, the French forward has already spent four seasons with OKC. Each of his runs have proven to be shaky as he regressed in his games. Although he&#8217;s shown some small sparks of improvement, a championship team like <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/18\/ousmane-dieng-project-progress-okc-thunder\/\" target=\"_self\">Oklahoma City doesn&#8217;t have time to wait for him<\/a>. With more rookies waiting for their turn, Dieng could well be worth a few picks while getting to a team where he could shine more. He&#8217;s the most definite OKC trade out of all the said options so far.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ousmane Dieng kinda nice? i\u2019ve had my doubts early on but he is showing real growth<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Thunder OG (@ThunderOG_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThunderOG_\/status\/2016329398434021668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Is an OKC Trade Coming Up Soon?<\/h3>\n<p>The last time the Thunder added new players via trade, it was <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giddejo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Giddey<\/a> for <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/carusal01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alex Caruso<\/a>. So far, that has turned out to be a win. OKC isn&#8217;t a team that relies much on trades. They build players via the Draft as we&#8217;ve seen for quite some time now. At this point, one can say that the Thunder may end up not moving any assets at all when the trade deadline comes.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a9 Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After starting out 24-1 in the regular season, the Thunder have gone 13-9 since then. It seems that teams are starting to find ways to win over the defending champs. Nothing has been easy so far, and injuries are also adding to their dilemma as well. Closing in on the trade deadline, OKC may need [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5536,"featured_media":175175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,22,4721],"tags":[4776,5000,4049,948,4614],"class_list":["post-175157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-thunder","category-trade-rumors","tag-cason-wallace","tag-isaiah-joe","tag-jaylin-williams","tag-luguentz-dort","tag-ousmane-dieng"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5536"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175157"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175176,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175157\/revisions\/175176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}