The Thunder and Spurs seem destined to be the two top dogs in the Western Conference for the rest of the decade, and possibly beyond. Oklahoma City came up just shy in knocking off its new rival in this year’s Western Conference Finals, as it lost Game 7 to San Antonio.
It’s now up to Thunder general manager Sam Presti, who has never been shy about making a big off-season splash, to re-work the OKC roster in order to be able to topple the Spurs.
“I will give zero input,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said in response to a question about OKC’s potential roster tweaking this summer. “I will let Sam Presti, the greatest GM ever, do his job.”
Presti will undoubtedly be looking to add another big that can help defend the massive Victor Wembanyama, who just won the Magic Johnson Trophy (Western Conference Finals MVP). Several big names that fit that description are currently or may soon be available via trade.
Evan Mobley to Thunder trade rumors
Presti has apparently been enamored with Mobley, the 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, for quite some time, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein.
“Oklahoma City’s interest in Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, league sources say, goes all the way back to the NBA Draft in 2021, when the Cavaliers selected Mobley with the No. 3 overall pick,” Stein reported this week. “The Thunder tried in that draft to move up to Mobley’s range and were rebuffed by their Cleveland counterparts.”
Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said last week that the intention is for Mobley to be a part of Cleveland’s future, but that won’t silence the Mobley trade chatter.
Cavs owner Dan Gilbert seems quite willing to go full-throttle in a roster revamp this off-season.
“We took a step ahead this spring, but we are nowhere near where we need to be,” Gilbert wrote on X after his team was eliminated by the Knicks. “We will dig in all summer and do everything we possibly can to take the next step. We will grind until we get there.”
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps believes that there is a real possibility that the Cavs make a major move or two this summer.
“I think it’s fair to take some stock in what Dan Gilbert said,” ESPN’s Tim Bontemps said on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast last week. “The action of the Cavs in February [when they traded for James Harden] were that the window is now, not in three or four years. I’m not saying trade Evan Mobley for a bag of beans … You need to either have Donovan Mitchell be good enough, or you need to get a player who is better than Donovan Mitchell so he’s the second-best player.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo to Thunder trade rumors
The Thunder have everything the Bucks would want in a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo: young players, and a boatload of draft picks.
OKC would likely ship out Chet Holmgren or Jalen Williams in a trade for the Greek Freak. They also have two first round picks in this year’s NBA Draft (No. 12 and No. 17), and a total of seven tradable future first round picks to dangle.
This remains unlikely, however, as Presti surely has concerns about Giannis’ age (31) and injury history. The Thunder GM has typically been one to be on the receiving end of younger players in major trades as opposed to getting players that are long in the tooth. A trade for Giannis would also most likely push the Thunder into the second apron.
Rudy Gobert to Thunder rumors
Gobert is a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year but, like Giannis, he is on the wrong side of 30.
The Timberwolves seem open to moving Gobert this summer, as they have their own eyes on making a blockbuster trade for Giannis. Milwaukee will not want anything to do with Gobert, so Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly may opt to trade Gobert to a different team first, in exchange for draft capital that could help facilitate a deal for Giannis.
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