Ranking Thunder's Top Trade Targets After 2026 NBA Playoff Loss

Just like the six NBA champions who came before them, the Oklahoma City Thunder were unable to author a successful title defense, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Final.

That's no reason to panic, obviously, but it might force this front office to consider making some changes to this roster. They don't have much wiggle room at the moment, but they could create it if they wanted to, either by declining team options for the likes of Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort or by hitting the trade market.

If OKC opts for the latter, it could set its sights as high as it wanted. Their draft capital remains among the league's richest, and they have all of the money-matching salaries and trade-sweeteners to broker a blockbuster.

That doesn't seem super likely, given what this front office knows about how good this group can be—and how expensive it's about to get. Still, when guesstimating the Thunder's trade target list, it feels right to consider both big-ticket items and supplemental support pieces.

3. Naji Marshall, Dallas Mavericks

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With huge extensions soon kicking in for Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder could deem Dort's $18.2 million team option as more rich than they can afford. They could also, then, identify Marshall as a reasonable, cheaper alternative.

Like Dort, Marshall is a tough, physical wing defender with a good amount of versatility on that end. He's also, unfortunately, even less reliable with his three-ball, although he's a generally efficient scorer (50-plus field-goal percentage this season and last) because he stays within himself and is a powerful finisher going downhill.

He's also a good passer for this archetype, which gives him some added utility on offense. He isn't a primary playmaker by any stretch, but he can make connective passes and spot open targets on the move.

He is solid, and that might be all that OKC thinks it needs to get. He's also approaching the final season on his contract, so his deal would come off the books right when SGA's supermax extension gets added on them.

2. An Early Draft Pick

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The Thunder currently possess three picks in the upcoming draft: Nos. 12, 17 and 37. It'd be hard enough fitting three rookies onto this roster, let alone finding them actual floor time in the foreseeable future.

It could make a lot of sense, then, for OKC to try packaging some (or even all) of these selections in an effort to climb the board and add another blue-chip prospect to this roster. With this core growing more expensive by the season, cost-controlled talent will be a must for the franchise to navigate life under this collective bargaining agreement.

How high do the Thunder need to aim? Well, cracking the top four seems awfully challenging with groupthink suggesting there is a clear tier of four prospects sitting atop this class: BYU's AJ Dybantsa, Kansas' Darryn Peterson, Duke's Cameron Boozer and North Carolina's Caleb Wilson. OKC still might be asset-rich enough to make something happen, but it would be awfully costly.

That said, entering the top 10 seems very doable, and the Thunder could like what they find there. Maybe Michigan's towering center Aday Mara could be seen as a cost-effective replacement for Hartenstein. Perhaps Arizona's Brayden Burries gets regarded as a long-term backcourt partner for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Or maybe a scoring guard like Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. or Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr. intrigues if the Thunder feel like they still need more non-SGA creation.

The options are plentiful. The best ones just happen to sit outside of the Thunder's current draft range.

1. Trey Murphy III, New Orleans Pelicans

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While the Thunder could probably afford anyone on the trade market, they just don't seem like the type to overpay for an established star. The idea of Giannis Antetokounmpo moving to the Sooner State is beyond fascinating, but the reality is probably much to murky to make it happen.

If OKC wants to splurge, then, a near-star like Murphy would probably be the preference. He wouldn't require schematic changes to fit and would align perfectly with the timeline of this nucleus.

He is sort of a turbo-charged version of the three-and-D archetype. His bag runs deeper than the label implies, but he's a play-finisher on offense and a versatile, disruptive stopper on defense.

He'd be costly to pry away from the Pelicans, but OKC could afford to splurge. It could realistically acquire him without wrecking its asset collection in true rich-getting-richer fashion.