The Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder have been trade partners three times.
In an ongoing series here at Bolt Beat, we are breaking down the best trade that the Los Angeles Lakers have made with every other NBA franchise. Today, we break down the best trade that the Lakers have made with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers have actually never made a trade with the Thunder once they were re-branded as the Thunder prior to the 2008 season. The last time the team did business with the Thunder was in 2000 when they were still the Supersonics.
In fact, all three trades that the Lakers have made with the Thunder came in a 10-year window starting in 1991 and ending in 2000. Here is the best trade of the trio.
Los Angeles Lakers’ best ever trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder
Sedale Threatt might not be all that remembered in Laker history as he was the guy that took over the point guard position after Magic Johnson’s sudden retirement because of the HIV virus. Threatt was initially not traded for to be the starting point guard and instead was thrust into the role.
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With those circumstances, Threatt actually did fairly well for the Los Angeles Lakers. He was not an all-star nor a revolutionary player, but he certainly is the best player that the Lakers have received from the Thunder/Sonics.
Threatt played five seasons with the Lakers and was the primary starter in two of those three seasons before moving into more of a bench role in his third season (although he still averaged 28.1 minutes per game in his third season in LA).
In his first three years in Los Angeles, Threatt averaged 14.0 points, 6.1 assists, shot 49.4 percent from the field and averaged 1.7 steals per game. He was a solid two-way player that played good defense and was able to intercept passes fairly well.
Of the 22 guards in the NBA that had at least 2,900 field goal attempts in those three seasons, Threatt ranked fifth in field goal percentage. Only Michael Jordan, Doug West, Jeff Malone and Reggie Miller had better percentages.
Threatt was an efficient scorer who got to the rim, was a solid facilitator and was good on the defensive end of the court as well.
He might not have been Magic Johnson, but he was a really solid player for the Los Angeles Lakers in his tenure.