Can OKC Thunder Afford to Rely on Health Instead of Making Deadline Deal?

Oklahoma City is going through a rough stretch, particularly on the injury report, and it might need to weigh a deadline move because of it.

Over the first couple of months of the season, the Thunder were nothing but dominant. Starting the year 24-1 and sitting at the top of the league, the defending champions seemed almost unbeatable.

Of course, as injuries have piled up and the schedule has gotten tougher, that invincibility has worn off. As evidenced by the Thunder’s current stretch of losing three of its past four games, there might be some trouble in paradise.

With the trade deadline coming up on Thursday, the Thunder will have limited time to make a decision about the roster. While Sam Presti isn’t usually one to make significant changes at the deadline, the Thunder’s contract and current health situation might be enough to get him to pull the trigger on something.

Of course, as the roster sits now, a fully healthy Thunder should still project to be the best team in the league and is more than capable of winning a title. The Thunder still have the exact same core from last season and would be adding Ajay Mitchell to a playoff rotation, which could give Oklahoma City a huge creation boost in April and beyond compared to 2025.

Although there’s no doubt that a healthy Thunder team is capable of competing for a championship, there’s plenty of doubt about whether this Thunder team will actually get healthy. In the 2025 title run, the Thunder were remarkably healthy, with none of the rotation missing a single game due to injury.

Although there were plenty of players dealing with injury, such as Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, they were still on the court. That hasn’t been the case for most of this season for the Thunder.

Most notably, Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein have missed significant time with injury, and the Thunder have suffered without them on the floor. Although there are plenty of other Thunder players who have missed varying amounts of time with injuries, those two are arguably the most critical to the Thunder’s ceiling when the postseason arrives.

Sure, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to be able to carry whatever lineup he’s on the floor with for stretches, but when he’s off the floor, Williams and Mitchell will need to carry the load as creators, and Hartenstein still projects to be the Thunder’s only reliable rebounder.

Yes, the Thunder have enough talent to go win another title, but it might be a risky move to rely on this team’s health to remain intact for a full two months of high-intensity action.