OKC Thunder Trades and Transaction Thread

[The Servant]

Since we don’t have a draft thread this season.

This guy is kind of interesting in the late first / second round kind of pick. Ballhandler , ok-ish defence , 3 point range .

https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/2025-nba-draft-scouting-report-darrion-williams-f-texas-tech-170020440.html

At this point stop drafting for upside and draft a 7 footer body on a cheap rookie contract who can back up Chet or Hart if either is injured. Just need a back up body to bang on the boards, if they can shoot 30%-33% from 3 then great but not necessary.

[bbms]

ngl a move for kd's expiring would interest me a lot, specially if we can't make the offense click again these playoffs

and it would be so **** ironic

[Zagor]

I hope that in the summer, Sam trade Topic and 15th pick to move up in the draft. There is no logic in keeping Topic on this roster, guy didn't play basketball for whole year and there will be no big minutes for him in rotation for next year.
He needs ball in his hand and at least 20 minutes per game. His biggest weakness is defense and negative wingspan.

Ajay fits much better in this team.

So, try to move up and draft guys like Carter Bryant, Collin Murray Boyles or Cedric Coward. They can help and contribute from the start.

[bbms]

I hope that in the summer, Sam trade Topic and 15th pick to move up in the draft. There is no logic in keeping Topic on this roster, guy didn't play basketball for whole year and there will be no big minutes for him in rotation for next year.
He needs ball in his hand and at least 20 minutes per game. His biggest weakness is defense and negative wingspan.

Ajay fits much better in this team.

So, try to move up and draft guys like Carter Bryant, Collin Murray Boyles or Cedric Coward. They can help and contribute from the start.

i can't agree a tiny bit with this

first, all i saw this season was the lack of creativity on non-sga minutes. not even jdub moved that needle, much less mitchell which was not good offensively

topic is far more accomplished as an offensive player than anyone other than cooper flagg in this draft class. he should be a sure fire top 10 in this class.

at 18 years old he had a 20 ppg on 60% on 2s and over 60% ts against profissional basketball players. the last guard prospect with that credentials: doncic. if you include amateurs: doncic and haliburton.

his measurements aren't a problem. yeah he has a short wingspan for his size. but it's the same wingspan as mitchell (topic has bigger arm lenght though) and his standing reach is bigger than both cason wallace and ajay mitchell.

while his defense is his "weakness" (real basketball isn't a bleacher report scouting report - strenghts/weaknesses/conclusion) every film study i saw on him remarks how his elite ability to process situations on offense translate to defense. don't forget his tape is against real professionals and adults.

thunder has 8 seasons of club control on him. we have one season of club control over mitchell which is a significantly less talented player.

the fact he has "not played" last season is actually a positive in my eyes. he's been in the system. he knows thunder stuff. i trust their judgement.

and i also trust what i saw of him working the sidelines almost like a staff member. his body language told me he was a guy trying hard to be of help even if it's only possible for him to help with towels ans gatorades.

we don't need to ship topic to get collin murray-boyles. in 2022 the thunder bought #11 for three weak frp. in 2021 thunder sold #16 for 2 weak frps.

to trade topic + 15th for like 9th is like trading #10 (topics value imo) and #15 for 9th. massive overpay.

[Devilanche]

I’m not extremely high on topic , but if you want move up, use future picks . If you want create roster spot , move Dieng / Dillon.

[Zagor]

first, all i saw this season was the lack of creativity on non-sga minutes. not even jdub moved that needle, much less mitchell which was not good offensively

I agree that there is a lack of creativity and that is one of few problems of our roster. I don't agree on Mitchell. He showed enough of potential, and what is more important he can defend. He is not black hole in defense. I see Mike Conley in him.

topic is far more accomplished as an offensive player than anyone other than cooper flagg in this draft class. he should be a sure fire top 10 in this class.

at 18 years old he had a 20 ppg on 60% on 2s and over 60% ts against profissional basketball players. the last guard prospect with that credentials: doncic. if you include amateurs: doncic and haliburton.

He's accomplished as an offensive player in his way, yes. But as lead guard with open hands to do what he wants, you can't replicate that with Thunder.
That kind of guys need serious minutes to develop. And in order to contribute in offense, he will have to have average defense, which he will not have for at least two years and possibly never.

while his defense is his "weakness" (real basketball isn't a bleacher report scouting report - strenghts/weaknesses/conclusion) every film study i saw on him remarks how his elite ability to process situations on offense translate to defense. don't forget his tape is against real professionals and adults.

Micic is master of everything that Topic has and he couldn't stay on the floor for us. For the rookies it's always the rule that you have to play at least average defense if you want to play 15+ minutes for playoff team. Why Mitchell played? Because he can stay on the floor. And he will only get better.

we don't need to ship topic to get collin murray-boyles. in 2022 the thunder bought #11 for three weak frp. in 2021 thunder sold #16 for 2 weak frps.

to trade topic + 15th for like 9th is like trading #10 (topics value imo) and #15 for 9th. massive overpay.

When you want right player for the team and system, then you don't think in terms of overpaying. Topic is asset and should be used, for climbing in draft or veteran player, it doesn't matter.
I would rather keep future picks.

[bbms]

if we have topic and murray-boyles as the thunder 2025-26 rookies, i'll be very, very, very hyped ngl

[Kizz Fastfists]

He's accomplished as an offensive player in his way, yes. But as lead guard with open hands to do what he wants, you can't replicate that with Thunder. That kind of guys need serious minutes to develop. And in order to contribute in offense, he will have to have average defense, which he will not have for at least two years and possibly never.

Topic was considered the best P&R PG prospect in a decade. If he does nothing else but come in and run P&R with IH and Chet the offense will put up big numbers with Topic on the floor. The only knock on his defense is that he can occasionally get run past by small, fast guards. He can improve his footwork to counter that, which working with Dort and Cason should be doable. The only knock on his offense is that he's not a great 3pt shooter. You have one of the top playmaking PG prospects of his generation with a very high BBIQ and you want to dump him before he gets on the court because he isn't an elite defender as a prospect? By that logic they should have dumped SGA right after they traded for him. Did I mention he is only 19? You want to give up on a 19 year old that only dropped to OKC because of an injury? Before that injury he was projected to go #1. Put him in this draft and healthy and he goes top 3. Just so you don't think I'm the only one with the SGA comparison, Bleacher report had his pro comp as SGA. By all means, let's dump someone that compares to SGA as a prospect before they set foot on the floor. We don't like young, high ceiling players like SGA was when OKC acquired him, do we?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10113918-nikola-topic-scouting-report-pro-comps-and-predictions-for-2024-nba-draft-prospect

[bbms]

yeah i don't think that makes much sense.

topic will still have two seasons on rookie deal when chet and jdub get paid. if he doesn't bust that kind of surplus value is invaluable to keep fielding depth after roster crunch.

[Butter]

Thoughts packaging 15&24 to move up to 11?

[Big nick]

Thoughts packaging 15&24 to move up to 11?

I think that would work.

[kdthunderup]

As others have mentioned here before the only weakness I see on this OKC team is the lack of a lead ball-handler and primary playmaker outside of SGA. I think JDub is an elite player but he is much stronger as a secondary playmaker rather than as the main guy on the ball. Topic with a red shirt year should be able to come in and make immediate impact as the back-up PG and helping the offense when SGA sits. I'm excited that this team has the ability to bring in another top tier talent into the fold.

[kdthunderup]

In the draft I think we should try to draft a bigger two-way forward and a center that can develop to replace IHart once his contract is up in another season.

[Zagor]

Topic was considered the best P&R PG prospect in a decade. If he does nothing else but come in and run P&R with IH and Chet the offense will put up big numbers with Topic on the floor. The only knock on his defense is that he can occasionally get run past by small, fast guards. He can improve his footwork to counter that, which working with Dort and Cason should be doable.

Yeah, he was considered so good that he was taken 11th in historically weak draft. Injury is not that important because teams will always risk for great talent. If Dylan Harper had same injury as Topic, he would still be drafted in top 5.

Topic is subpar athletically, his defense is not good, his shot is average. Very similar to Micic but Micic is better shooter.
Also his upright posture when dribbling and attacking the rim is concerning.

You will see that Mitchell will outplay him easily if both are on the roster. He's just more rounded player with fine fundamentals.

Topic will lose value if he sits most of the next year. So it's better to move him and get something for him. There are plenty of teams who need guards like him and can give them serious minutes.

We need guys like Coward, Boyles or Bryant. They would fit like glove on this roster.

[bbms]

topic is not worse athlete than mitchell

topic has speed, acceleration, change of direction, size, reach on mitchell. maybe mitchell has short area explosion and leaping ability on him?

even if we give mitchell that. context. mitchell is 4 years more mature and is a 23 rookie turning expiring next season

no comments about the micic comp. micic is a full step below 95% of nba guards in athleticism.

[bbms]

i'm hyped on topic not on his expected performance in 25-26. i'm high on his potential delivery from 2026-27 and 2027-28 on a rookie deal after big contracts are handed.

even if mitchell is a better player now (i doubt it, btw) the situation is not comparable at all when you factor everything together (age, long term projection, contract situation, timeline of thunder's payroll).

topic is a player you hope can put you some day in that situation james harden put the thunder in 2012 - do you max him? do you cash on him?

he's got that kind of upside.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Yeah, he was considered so good that he was taken 11th in historically weak draft. Injury is not that important because teams will always risk for great talent. If Dylan Harper had same injury as Topic, he would still be drafted in top 5.

Michael Porter Jr was expected to go #1 in the draft, gets hurt and goes 14th. I'm sure you are right and that type of thing never happens. PJII was projected to go in the lottery and got hurt and fell to 28. Yup, players never slide due to injury. I apologize for having read books that filled my head with such silly notions. I will try to remember in the future that you do not want objective truth, reality or facts brought into a conversation. I'm sure that you are right and Topic is a finished product at 19 and will never be any good. Just like SGA was a finished product when OKC acquired him. Why didn't OKC do the smart thing and get rid of SGA? He's a complete bum who maxed out in his rookie season at age 20! They better hurry up and get rid of Chet before people realize he can't improve any more and is just going to be a decent player. Trade him to a team that believes in the myth of player development. Dort is absolute trash and can't make a 3! There is no way coaching, practice and repetition can ever make him a decent 3pth shooter. Trade that bum!!!

[Dadouv47]

Yeah, he was considered so good that he was taken 11th in historically weak draft. Injury is not that important because teams will always risk for great talent. If Dylan Harper had same injury as Topic, he would still be drafted in top 5.

Michael Porter Jr was expected to go #1 in the draft, gets hurt and goes 14th. I'm sure you are right and that type of thing never happens. PJII was projected to go in the lottery and got hurt and fell to 28. Yup, players never slide due to injury. I apologize for having read books that filled my head with such silly notions. I will try to remember in the future that you do not want objective truth, reality or facts brought into a conversation. I'm sure that you are right and Topic is a finished product at 19 and will never be any good. Just like SGA was a finished product when OKC acquired him. Why didn't OKC do the smart thing and get rid of SGA? He's a complete bum who maxed out in his rookie season at age 20! They better hurry up and get rid of Chet before people realize he can't improve any more and is just going to be a decent player. Trade him to a team that believes in the myth of player development. Dort is absolute trash and can't make a 3! There is no way coaching, practice and repetition can ever make him a decent 3pth shooter. Trade that bum!!!

I have a feeling Kizz is 4 wins away to become Presti's biggest fan!

Seriously speaking, nobody knows about Topic. He wasn't a lock to be first in a weak draft probably because he was only 18 years old with some weaknesses but he was considered the highest ceiling player from that draft class. Don't think he's a generational player but if he can recover well enough from his serious injury there's a decent chance he can be a good NBA player.

I hate when we draft players coming from bad leagues and that didn't show anything before being drafted (Poku, Dieng to a lesser extent) but Topic was still in a decent league and playing very well. We can easily give him some playing time to prove if he can become a good back up in a bit more than year or not. It's all about upside anyway with a guy like him. In a vacuum I would rather draft a more NBA ready player for a contender but when u have a lot of draft capital and a guy falls from top 3 to 12 because of a serious injury I don't mind taking the gamble. We can afford it while team like the Hornets couldn't because the only thing they have to show to their fanbase is their new high drafted rookie.

[ThunderBolt]

Drafting a player with an injury like Topic had is showing a measure of commitment to the long term possibilities of the player. Now that the setback is behind him I don’t see Presti chasing course unless it’s for something very unexpected.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I have a feeling Kizz is 4 wins away to become Presti's biggest fan!

No, but I'm going find it highly entertaining when everyone who was ripping on Presti for not adding a better bench option than Wiggins/Joe/Jaylin/Cason/etc. during the Denver series suddenly start calling Presti the greatest ever. Presti screwed up at the deadline not adding a better player for the rotation when he had ample contracts and picks to move. Winning a championship doesn't change that. However, I will no longer be able to use the lack of a championship against him after they beat Indy in 5. Don't worry, I'll probably be complaining about him in the off-season when he doesn't consolidate the roster into a upgrade for the bench unit. Although, depending on how the draft goes I might accept that as taking care of that issue. The needs of a playmaker off the bench and a better #3 stretch big will have Topic taking care of one issue and the other could be solved in the draft.

Remember that I wanted Lively over Cason because of the lack of a legitimate center on the roster. Even after signing IH I still wanted another big man that could stretch the floor and play in the paint. If Presti finishes off everything on the roster I have been complaining about then I run out of things to complain about. The best move I believe Presti made during the SGA era was trading for CP3. I believe a year with CP3 was the best thing that could have happened for SGA. It got the toxic, selfish piece of garbage Westbrook out and one of the best PGs in NBA history in to show SGA how to be a team player and run an offense instead of him watching Russ do hero ball garbage that kills your team in the postseason. Houston regretted that trade so much that they went into a complete rebuild after suffering with Russ for a season. I would love to see CP3 back in OKC, but there are no roster spots for it. I think CP3 will be a great coach if he chooses to go that route after he retires. Let's also remember that it wasn't until Presti had to make contract decisions that OKC fell apart the first time they had a young, talented big 3. If they collapse in the Finals how does Presti handle his upcoming cap questions? Does he trade JDub to keep IH and Caruso? Is he allowed to go into the 2nd apron to keep everyone together? Does he have to replace Dort? I'm not saying Presti can't get 3-4 championships out of this core, but we saw him with something similar once upon a time and we all know that it fell apart with nothing to show for it.