NBA Trade: The Ringer Mocks Poeltl to OKC Thunder

With the NBA trade deadline just days away, teams are looking for any and every way they can upgrade their team.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are no exception to that, despite the fact they’re likely not seriously considering making any moves this deadline. If moves are made, it will likely be the offloading of certain upcoming unrestricted free agents.

Despite that, The Ringer has one mock trade for overachieving Oklahoma City they think could help the team become a more serious playoff contender this season.

Here is The Ringer’s mock trade for the Thunder:

Oklahoma City gets: Jakob Poeltl

San Antonio gets: Mike Muscala, Oklahoma City lottery-protected 2023 first-round pick, LAC 2024 unprotected first round pick

Reasoning: “For a team that’s struggled to grab defensive rebounds and may need a long-term interior presence who can help streamline Chet Holmgren’s responsibilities and free him from taxing dirty work as a full-time center, the 27-year-old Poeltl makes a ton of sense. His poise as a pick-and-roll partner will make life easier for SGA, Josh Giddey, and Jalen Williams. His rim protection and reliable drop coverage will also help OKC limit attempts at the rim and the corners (where they currently bleed shots).”

Inside The Thunder reaction:

At first glance, it’s not unthinkable. Poeltl is a valuable piece and OKC will indeed need to consolidate draft picks eventually. But, in our eyes, it doesn’t work for a few reasons.

As a traditional style, non-shooting center, Poeltl doesn’t fit the Thunder’s current mold. General manager Sam Presti and co. want every player to be able to be able to score, defend, pass, dribble, space the floor.

In other words, being moderately too highly skilled in nearly every facet of the game with little to no holes. And Poeltl has several glaring ones in the Thunder system, specifically.

On that note, Muscala as a floor-spacer has the potential to help OKC just as much. The picks might be expendable, but OKC certainly wouldn’t want to lose out on its 2023 pick with nothing to show for a non-playoffs berth. On top of that, with Los Angeles’ health concerns, their 2024 selection could end of being exceptionally valuable.

As previously stated, it’s certainly not an unthinkable trade. Just not a likely one.

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