NBA Mock Trade: Thunder Acquire Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis
In this story:
Sitting at 8-13 with a few quality wins under their belt, the Oklahoma City Thunder have already proven they’re on the up-and-up.
But with no real path towards contention this season, General Manager Sam Presti is likely looking, at least one more time, towards the NBA Draft to improve the team. And for that reason, continuing to lean on young player development is the current strategy for OKC.
That’s where Washington forward-center hybrid Kristaps Porzingis factors in.
With some of the worst outside shooting in the league, Oklahoma City is in dire need of an upgrade. While No. 2 overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft Chet Holmgren will be inserted into the lineup next year, Porzingis could add another layer to 5-out ball that could give Oklahoma City even more of an edge when they press the ‘Go’ button.
Porzingis isn’t officially available, and the Wizards are a competitive bunch at the moment. But if they were to have a fire sale, you can bet they’d field calls on a wide variety of players.
Washington has been perpetually stuck in the middle, and should they choose to do a hard reset in the near future, they’d likely grab future assets where they could.
Oklahoma City Thunder get: Kristaps Porzingis
Washington Wizards get: 2024 Jazz First Round Selection, 2025 Miami Heat First Round Selection
Albeit a deal that likely doesn’t jump out to Wizards fans with the Unicorn’s play so far this season, it's likely a fair one. Porzingis has just two years left on his deal, and isn't likely apart of the team's longterm future anyways.
For an injury-prone 27-year-old late in his deal, two potentially great first round selections, the recently bad Jazz and waning Heat, would likely be enough. If not, Oklahoma City has even more picks to tack on, or a few up-and-coming players should Washington want something more concrete.
Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
