The Los Angeles Lakers lack depth. The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to lack financial and roster flexibility. The two Western Conference foes can help each other out.
Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are both due to have their extensions hit the salary sheets in Oklahoma City this summer. The Thunder also have three picks in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft. Both of those elements signal there should be current members of their roster who start the 2026-27 season elsewhere.
As a result of that, there are players under contract that should be available on the trade market to interested buyers. Given this is the Thunder we are talking about, those end of bench guys are rotation-caliber players for many other teams, the Lakers included. Tim MacMahon pinpointed two names who will be closely monitored for a potential trip out of town this summer.
"The most likely candidates to be moved in a trade to rebalance the roster are Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, who have proved to be quality role players but fell out of the rotation during these playoffs."
Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins would both immediately find playing time in Los Angeles
Both Joe and Wiggins would be significant upgrades over some of the back-end players the Lakers had in their rotation during the 2025-26 season. For the Thunder, this is a case of having an abundance of wealth.
Joe has shot 41.5 percent on 5.5 attempts from beyond the arc over the last four regular season campaigns. That is the type of presence any team would want. The problem for the Thunder is their sharpshooter is set to make $11.3 million next season.
The Lakers crave shooting around Luka Doncic. Joe would be lethal with some of the easy looks Doncic creates.
Wiggins is a solid, albeit imperfect, defender who was also shot a healthy percentage on his long-range looks in recent years. The Thunder wing has posted 39.2 percent on 3.4 attempts from deep over the last three regular season campaigns. There are far worse options out there for two-way play if you are the Lakers. Oklahoma City just has better players to feature ahead of him when it matters.
For the Lakers, adding either one of those two could come down to how low the Thunder are willing to sell.
Rob Pelinka does not have a ton of assets at his disposal. There are even fewer that would theoretically draw real interest from a team that is as spoiled as the Thunder are. This would mean Sam Presti would have to be a willing giver.
In any case, Joe and Wiggins still stand out above their Thunder peers in realism as trade targets for the Lakers. It is difficult to imagine Los Angeles having enough to push for anyone that Oklahoma City would genuinely want to keep. Those two doors should be relatively open by contrast.
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