It’s fine if it goes south, though. That’s the thing. There’s no shame in it going south. Our pick falls into the lottery somewhere, hopefully, and we give SGA a new young teammate. It’s safe to say the fanbase’s general expectations were pretty low.
The problem is…do you take the (massive) risk of getting someone who can help now? It’s a big coin flip.
Alright so I’m going to start on your wish lists and hope I don’t get distracted 
Lamarcus Aldridge: Great player for the early 00’s and 90’s. Doesn’t really do much for this team as it’s a young energy filled team and he’s a back to the basket mid range guy. Given what we’d have to give up, he’s not worth it at this point. Plus he’s older and has only one year left on the current contract.
Kelly Oubre: I actually really like Oubre. He could take Ferguson’s spot and would be an upgrade. Oubre is what I think Ferguson will be. However his deal ends in one more year as well which seems like a rental as it is OKC after all.
Towns: Would be massive. Would create a contender. Would be worth it in my eyes. It all hangs up on if the owners want to spend on the luxury tax. If they ok it, this could be the trade that gets OKC back. Towns is an obvious talent that can’t be the #1 guy. And he wouldn’t be here. I believe we could offload Gallo to Minnesota to make the money situation not as awful and picks. It would probably take two 1sts and Gallo. Which would be completely worth it. The money situation may work out as well as Adams contract will go down after next year assuming he stays.
Barnes: Barnes is a solid player that just doesn’t do much for me. I don’t think he’s worth giving up a pick that would certainly have to be sent. He would fit, but I just don’t think it’s something that’s going to be that next step. His contract isn’t horrible either. Idk why it just doesn’t do anything for me.
Okafor: He is a free agent in the offseason and will be cheap. We could bring him in without a trade then and test him out kind of like Noel did. Noel proved he could still play and is going to get his money for it (hopefully in OKC). That being said, this year as a trade is not worth it as we already have Adams who nobody wants to pay and Noel who is a proven same type of player.
Russell: I do not like Russell for this team. SGA is the man and you’re not going to take the reigns from him. Russel wants to be the guy and is very very talented. But I’m taking SGA any day. That coupled with CP3 probably not moving any time soon and you’ve got a crowded back court. Schroeder could get dealt in something like that but we’d have to give up another player to make the money work in the trade. I just don’t see it being worth it as it may mess up chemistry and kind of hurt SGA.
I’ll do the east in a bit. Bertans I love so I’ll probably gush a bit about that.
Also, you’re right. It isn’t a bad thing if it goes south at all. The worst that happens is we get an actual good pick in the draft. The Thunder have exceeded expectations as it is. I think if it shakes out right for KAT or Ingram you do it. Take the chance. The whole point is to win a championship right? If it is only going to cost you 2-3 picks of your 15 then do it. That is the point of having 15 picks. They were never going to pick 15 new players. So use the assets, go for it and hope that you can strike like Toronto did.
Keep in mind that some of these guys aren’t necessarily “balance tippers”, so to speak. Towns, yes…Oubre, possibly…Aldridge I disagree on, I think he can be almost as good as Towns. A guy with a solid and automatic 10-15 footer is good, then Adams can hang out under the basket and Aldridge is dragging a big guy out with him. Of course, he lacks a three-point shot, but who cares? We actually have enough of that.
Oubre I think is more of a balance tip than most think. He’s not a name people really know but he’s a step up from Ferguson. Which if Ferguson could consistently score (Oubre 46% field, 36% 3pt vs Ferg 40% and 32% this year) our team would be deadly.
With all these trades, especially to SA we’re going to be giving up Gallo though. So the 3pt shot we have will decline due to that. Aldridge is 34 compared to Towns 24 and Towns can spread the floor to the 3pt line. Aldridge 5 years ago would be a wonderful add. Not now however. I think he’s close to retirement actually.
My big thing is with role players, do they make the team actually better for the money? Like paying Harrison Barnes to be the similar product as Abdel Nader would be silly. Harrison Barnes is better yes, but how much better? Enough to spend 15 million extra a year? Probably not.
And Oubre actually does score consistently, to the tune of 18.5 ppg.
I get the concern around Barnes. But like some of the other guys I listed…maybe a different situation is what they need to ignite them. Barnes has championship pedigree. He has shown he can consistently score 18-20 points.
Right. Oubre is someone I wanted with PG and Russ. He was and is a viable third option and can defend. Literally what they needed. I think Ferguson will end up being a Roberson like defender. He’s that good. But we also need him to shoot the dang ball. Oubre does that.
With Barnes he won a championship with the Warriors so 
on the pedigree. He did help and I know he’s not a bad player. He doesn’t do much for me on the defensive side like Oubre does. He’s also 3 years older than Oubre. Also Barnes commands more money than he’s worth. Would I be upset if Barnes came? No, but I would think there are better options, especially if we had to give up Gallo.
OK for @TheHeadChimp 's East wish list, because everyone is on the edge of their seat for this one.
Batum: I’ve always had an irrational want for Batum on the Thunder. I really don’t know why. He’s not played much this year and he’s set to be about a 27 million cap hit next year. I’m not sure he really enhances the lineup over say a Ferguson and Ferguson costs less and has a higher ceiling.
Lavine: Lavine for Schroder would be fine with me. He scores very well and shoots the three well enough to not just need to hold the ball as CP3 is going to have it or SGA. In fact he’s probably better for our three guard lineup as he shoots better than Schroeder. He’s got 3 years left on his contract at just under 20 million. Which if we traded them Gallo and picks would actually get the Thunder under the tax, then ship Dennis off somewhere else (LA). Lavine fits the young, athletic mold of the thunder. This would be a dynamite trade for OKC.
Bertans: I LOVE BERTANS. 41% from 3. Only 27. Small Cap hit. Give me Bertans. Trade Gallo and 2 first round picks to Washington right now. They get an expiring contract plus two picks. They come out good, needing to shed money and they get extra picks to rebuild. He’s a product of the Spurs so he’s used to a small market and the thunder model themselves after the Spurs as well. This would be a match made in heaven for both sides I believe. Great shooter, high motor, young guy. The biggest thing for me is he can also handle the ball and create his own shot at 6’10!!! He’s a poor mans Luka.
Love: He’s not worth his near 30 million cap hit anymore. Could it be a fit thing? Maybe but he was supposed to be released by having Lebron and he just wasn’t. The guy is a rebounding machine, but so is Adams. No, Adams can’t stretch the floor as well, no but Love can’t run the pick and roll like Adams or defend like Adams. All this comes back to the fact that Adams contract will drop also. So paying a bunch more money for Love doesn’t make a ton of sense. I don’t think he’s the same player he was due to injury and being in Cleveland.
Randle: Julius Randle could be interesting. He’s been playing pretty well and scoring well in NY. He’s a freak athlete I believe but just needs to stay healthy and have a chance. The thunder could use him if Noel is set to leave after the year and that would be on Presti to find out. He’s got 2 more years and about 20 million cap hit which isn’t horrible for his role. I think if a Bertans came to OKC we could do Randle. We would most likely push Ferg to the bench, and run CP3, SGA, Bertans, Randle, Adams. Good luck getting rebound from Randle and Adams. I think that lineup could be scary given that those two bigs could wear down say Anthony Davis or just dominate the Clippers front court. I think he’d need to be added with a shooter however. Him coming alone doesn’t do much for me.
Crabbe: Allen “cool breeze” Crabbe is… not great. He’s a fringe role player that doesn’t do much. He got PAID, due to the year he had but that was due to the salary cap changing and money going way up for everyone. Good for him getting that money, but he’s not worth trading anything for. Not even Mike Muscala. He’s not a bad shooter and this year is probably the one off but he’s down to 33% from 3 and that is supposed to be his thing. He’s quick but so is Ferguson. He’s just not worth it at this point to take the chance that this may be his fit.
The Pistons are a dumpster fire.
All great, brief summaries/write-ups. I’m glad you’re good with the Lavine one, specifically, lol. He’s one of my favorite players. Even after having a torn ACL, he is still an athletic freak. He isn’t a point guard, almost at all, so yeah, he’d definitely fit with CP3 and SGA handling the ball more.
This was actually a blast Now I just wait for @kyleporterCBS to make this site also about the Thunder and hire me…
Can’t have this kind of poor wording dragging his site down, Scott
I don’t know what you’re talking about…
I also don’t also know
So looking at the Bulls lineup…
What if we traded Danilo and Denis for Lavine and Thaddeus Young? Fills needs on both sides more or less.
Really just helps us actually, lol. We’d probably have to throw in another player and maybe a pick. Or maybe not? Because Schroeder and Gallo have both been productive.
Due to how productive Shroeder and Gallo have been bringing on Thad Young wouldn’t help much. He’s 31 and while having a pretty good contract, his PIPM is a -2 right now which is bad. Albeit Ferguson is a -2.3 but we already solved that by trading for Oubre
Adding Young goes back to that thing where is he any better than what Bazely or Ferguson or a future draft pick COULD be? It’s not worth the price tag to see. Also if you’re going to give up that much scoring in Gallo and Schroeder you need to get more back, especially in 3pt shooting.
It makes sense to get Lavine if you can, but Thad Young isn’t a good kicker to lose a pick for. It would be better to ship Gallo to the bulls with a pick then deal Schroeder somewhere else for maybe another pick or young player.
Seems simple to me… Trade for Zion, Giannis, and Lebron…
And also bring that Kevin Durant guy back once he’s healthy
But if we have three guys running around the perimeter…then have Steven and Thaddeus tracking down rebounds (Thaddeus Young is a monster rebounder), lob it out to one of the three.
We have a pretty decent opportunity to mimic the Warriors, in a way.
I will fully own that Lavine, in my opinion, is better than Klay Thompson offensively. Defensively, he’s not even close, but offensively, Lavine can do some things Klay can’t. And he shoots just about as well.
Lavine and Thompson I don’t think are close. Klay is one of the best shooters of all time. Klay can also create his own shot now as well and is evolving in to one of the games best scorers. Then like you said defensively Klay is one of the best defenders as well. Lavine is a great player, Thompson is a hall of famer.
Thad isn’t an awful player. He’s just not worth trading for. You’ve got Noel as a good rebounder as well right now and does the things Thad Young does at a much cheaper rate. Also Noel can stretch a bit more than Thad.