Joffrey Lauvergne to Thunder: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Tuesday they traded two protected second-round draft picks in 2017 to the Denver Nuggets for center Joffrey Lauvergne. 

The 24-year-old Frenchman tweeted about the deal:

After a largely nondescript rookie season in the Mile High City, Lauvergne became a solid bench player for the Nuggets in 2015-16. In 59 games, he averaged 7.9 points and 4.9 rebounds a night. Granted, Denver was 8.1 points better per 100 possessions when Lauvergne was off the floor, per NBA.com.

The deal is somewhat questionable for the Thunder since they already had a crowded frontcourt. Steven Adams and Enes Kanter are locked in as Oklahoma City's top two centers, while the team acquired power forward Ersan Ilyasova as part of the Victor Oladipo-Serge Ibaka trade. Head coach Billy Donovan will also likely want to carve out a role for first-round draft pick Domantas Sabonis.

The Norman Transcript's Fred Katz figured another shoe is about to drop:

Sporting News' Danny Leroux assumed Kanter could be the player on the move:

Giving up two protected second-rounders isn't an exorbitant price in order to add Lauvergne. But it's fair to question whether the Thunder could've used the picks to strengthen at small forward, considering Kyle Singler and Josh Huestis are their two best options there at the moment.

For the Nuggets, simply offloading Lauvergne was necessary, and general manager Tim Connelly did well to at least get something back in the way of future assets.

With Lauvergne out of the picture, head coach Michael Malone will have an easier time getting young centers Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic on the floor more regularly.