The Oklahoma City Thunder are absolutely stacked. Believe it or not, that is actually a problem for them. One that the Los Angeles Lakers could certainly help them fix.
Thursday night will give the Thunder an opportunity to capture their first NBA championship since relocating to Oklahoma City. Assuming they can win one of the next two games of the NBA Finals, Sam Presti will officially have a championship core.
If or when that final victory comes to pass, the Thunder will need to face the burden of what comes next ahead of the NBA Draft. Normally, a championship winner like the Oklahoma City can be would stay the course and make minimal changes, at most. The Thunder do not have that luxury.
NBA Draft features a problem for Thunder that Lakers can solve
On top of the fantastic crop of players already in Oklahoma City, the Thunder have three selections in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft. Presti will have picks number 15, 24, and 44 waiting for them.
That would be a good thing if not for the following problem. The Thunder roster may already be full for the 2025-26 season.
If Presti and the front office pick up the team options on Ajay Mitchell and Jaylin Williams, they will have 15 players under contract for the upcoming campaign. They would be left without room for their three incoming selections in the NBA Draft. That issue presents them with a few options.
The Thunder could make room on their roster by trading away some of their current talent. They could also trade those picks away for future draft assets, making it a tomorrow problem. Finally, Oklahoma City can execute a combination of the previous two plans.
One would imagine both Williams and Mitchell are far too talented young players to simply have the Thunder decline their team options. If there is a prospect who Presti loves in the 2025 NBA Draft, what could be done instead is picking up the options with the intention of trading one of them.
This is where the Lakers come into the mix. Mitchell and Williams are both players who would help address roster issues in Los Angeles.
The less popular J-Will in Oklahoma City would immediately be a consistent rotational big for the Lakers. Mitchell, meanwhile, could provide depth and versatility off the bench as a two-way role player for a team in need of that boost.
The big question that needs to be asked is whether the Thunder would be willing to help a contender in their own conference. The hope would be that Oklahoma City feels so secure with their position that the Lakers are not internally viewed as enough of a threat, at the right trade price.
Los Angeles would naturally be hoping to prove them wrong. However, Rob Pelinka would want to keep that part quiet in any trade discussions.
The Thunder can make this situation a whole lot less fun by simply trading away all those picks for future assets and running back the exact same team next season. However, if there is a ready-made prospect they are sold on in 2025, the discussions begin to look a lot different in that front office.