OKC Thunder Trade Deadline Primer: Assets, Targets, Approach and a Wild Card

OKC Thunder Trade Deadline Primer

The Assets: Players
The Assets: Draft Picks
The Assets: Exceptions
Financial Situation
OKC Thunder's approach to the NBA trade deadline
Potential Trade Targets
In Conclusion

The NBA Trade Deadline sits two weeks away, and while the Oklahoma City Thunder are not expected to make any shake-up moves, they are positioned with the benefit of optionality with their decision-making. Regardless of what the Thunder does on deadline day, the team will be impacted by the rest of the NBA landscape on Feb. 5.

For the first time in league history, the NBA is in the midst of a parity era that Adam Silver has spent years striving for. The Oklahoma City Thunder mark the seventh straight unique champion, with the last back-to-back title team being the 2018 Golden State Warriors.

The margin of error in the association is slimmer than ever before and with the amount of contenders the Thunder are up against, anyone getting better in the next two weeks poses a real threat to the best team in basketball.

However, on top of the shiny ring on their fingers and big banner in the rafters of the Paycom Center, the Thunder's 37-8 record has gained them the ability to take a steadier approach to this trade deadline.

Especially factoring in the summer ahead. No matter if confetti falls from the Paycom Center ceiling in June or not, Thunder top decision maker Sam Presti and company have difficult decisions to make.

After retaining 99% of last year's roster, the Bricktown Ballers will not be so lucky as they return to the hardwood next fall. That, combined with the team's current success, is a good deterrent to making moves within the next two weeks, given they are on the horizon.

As the NBA makes a lot of money on the back of transitions and roster moves that drive plenty of conversation around the sport, here is everything you need to know regarding the Oklahoma City Thunder and their trade deadline approach.

(All Salary Cap numbers via Spotrac)

The Assets: Players

Ousmane Dieng: $6.6 million salary. Impending restricted free agent this summer. Age: 22.

This is no surprise to anyone; not only is Dieng completely out of the Thunder's rotation, but Presti has a history of shipping off former first-round picks before they reach restricted free agency when the team has no intentions of re-signing them.

Things have not worked out for the No. 11 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, a victim of Oklahoma City's success. When the Bricktown Ballers grabbed Dieng in the lottery, the team envisioned a rebuild lasting longer than the blink of an eye to give him more developmental runway. Immediately, OKC made the Play-In tournament, never looking back and seeing minutes dwindle for the still just 22-year-old.

It would be eyebrow-raising, if not outright shocking, to see Dieng's tenure survive in Oklahoma City past the deadline given Presti's pattern of transactions. Though no matter when his time officially comes to an end in OKC, he is in the twilight of his Thunder term.

The Assets: Draft Picks

2026 First Round Pick (via LAC)
2026 First Round Pick Top-4 Protected (via Houston)
2026 First Round Pick Top-3 Protected (via Philadelphia)
2026 First Round Pick Top-8 Protected (via Utah)
2027 First Round Pick Top-5 Protected (via Denver)
2027 First Round Pick (via LAC)
2027 First Round Pick
2027 First Round Pick Top-15 Protected (via San Antonio)
2028 First Round Pick (via Dallas)
2028 First Round Pick
2029 First Round Pick
2030 First Round Pick
2031 First Round Pick
2032 First Round Pick
2026 Second Round Pick (via Dallas)
2027 Second Round Pick (via Charlotte)
2027 Second Round Pick (via Miami)
2027 Second Round Pick (via Sacramento)
2028 Second Round Pick (via Milwaukee)
2028 Second Round Pick
2028 Second Round Pick (via Utah)
2028 Second Round Pick (via Atlanta)
2029 Second Round Pick (via Boston)
2029 Second Round Pick (via Miami)
2029 Second Round Pick
2030 Second Round Pick (via Denver)
2030 Second Round Pick (via Houston)
2030 Second Round Pick (via Miami)
2030 Second Round Pick
2031 Second Round Pick
2031 Second Round Pick (via Orlando)
2032 Second Round Pick

The Oklahoma City Thunder have plenty of draft assets to swing any trade they want no matter the stakes. It is important to note just how valuable second-round picks are this time of year to get deals pushed over the finish line.

The Assets: Exceptions

$14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception
$5.4 million biannual exception

This allows the Thunder to take on salary into that exception to help make a trade work financially in this new and more restrictive CBA. An important note remains that most trade exceptions come and go without being used.

Financial Situation

Salary: $188,926,058 million (20th), $8,567,436 million below the first apron, $20,446,436 million below the second apron.

While the Oklahoma City Thunder are still below the first apron, they are also a non-taxpaying team. Just as they were last year becoming the rare team to win a championship while benefiting from the rest of the league who were above the tax threshold cutting OKC a check.

"Now, as I said, I think, last year, we don't get into — and we've had three years, if you count the play-in year, I'd say where we were a good team, two years where we were a contending team, we have not been a taxpayer. We're positioned this year to be a non-taxpayer," Presti explained back in September.

"Assuming we're a contending team this year, that would be three years as a non-taxpayer as a contender. People talk all the time about the fact that these — the windows are shorter and they're saying there's three years with each team more or less with the new rules. We just had three, or we've had two, we're going on three...From there, things will get more expensive because of those changes in those three guys' contracts. But we won't hit any type of repeater penalties until we're in another CBA. We'll be in a new arena by the time we're hitting any repeater tax penalties, as long as we stay under this year."

The Thunder's top decision-maker makes a strong case for this already proven contender, who not only has the league's best record but far and away the best point differential to match, to stay below the tax line before this team gets really expensive, really fast.

As a refresher to the rules and restrictions in this current CBA, see Keith Smith's graphic below that perfectly illustrates what is at stake for each team.

I'm just gonna redrop the chart here, because a lot of people are talking about what teams can and can't do at the various aprons. Hopefully this helps! pic.twitter.com/sbe22gcqIK
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 31, 2024

Are the Thunder going to do whatever it takes to stay in this non-taxpayer threshold? Not necessarily. This is an organization willing to make whatever move they see fit to improve this team before Feb. 5. Though, it is difficult to see a path for Oklahoma City to legitimately improve this already stellar roster that forces the team to go into the tax with who is rumored to be available.

OKC Thunder's approach to the NBA trade deadline

While trades are fun to discuss, and every hoop head spends admittedly too much time workshopping moves on their preferred trade machine, the bottom line remains: this Oklahoma City Thunder team just needs to get healthy.

Any concern you may have to this point in the Thunder's 37-8 campaign can be relieved by the return of Isaiah Hartenstein to clean up the rebounding issues and leaning on his high-post playmaking and screen-setting ability to free up an at times clogged half-court offense.

Jalen Williams' return to form helps the team's long-distance shooting and adds consistent offense. Without those two things happening between now and April, no realistic trade in two weeks will mask the issue.

Oklahoma City is built the same way as last year's title team. An elite defensive unit, an unstoppable superstar and enough complementary pieces to get over the hump.

The Thunder are no strangers to relying on internal returns as their key trade deadline move. Look no further than the 2025 NBA trade deadline, where Chet Holmgren's return from a hip fracture suffered on Nov. 10 marked the biggest possible transaction the team could've made. The same will be true for Hartenstein and the Santa Clara product.

Expect OKC to move on from Dieng to either nab an insurance big man who simply frees up a roster spot, while using a converted two-way option–– such as Branden Carlson–– as a placeholder for a team that has a trio of first-round picks coming their way this summer to join this crowded roster.

There is also a world in which Oklahoma City elects to go the bookkeeping route. Perhaps joining in as a third team in deals or helping out a draft pick-depleted team with current-day picks in return for selections pushed out into the distant future, which Presti has been good at swinging and coming up big on said gambles in recent years. Look no further than his facilitation of the Daniel Gafford trade to Dallas to secure the Mavericks' first-round pick, which looks more juicy by the day.

Potential Trade Targets

Kevin Love: This move makes the most sense on paper. If Love feels up for being relocated, the Thunder shipping Dieng to the tanking Utah Jazz in exchange for the veteran big man can allow Oklahoma City to patchwork their front-court depth for the remainder of the regular season and take the pressure off a Hartenstein early return before the playoffs. While the NBA champion would not have a role for this team in the playoffs, that would be the case for anyone in that Dieng slot. With the 17-year veteran, the Thunder would stay below the tax line while also nabbing an insurance big man.

Day'Ron Sharpe: With a team-option for the 2026-27 season, Sharpe can be viewed as an expiring contract on the trade market to be had from the lowly Brooklyn Nets, aiming to get anything in return for some of their pieces at the Feb. 5 deadline. The big man financially can be had for just a swap of Ousmane Dieng, with the question becoming how many second-round picks would it take to push the Nets over the threshold to let go of the UNC product? He would be a more than serviceable backup big man and give the Thunder a quick fix to any rebounding concerns that are out there regarding the Bricktown Ballers, while adding another play finisher to help take pressure off of their talented guard group that can get downhill and dump the ball off to Sharpe for some easy buckets.

Robert Williams III: This one is more out of the box and likely doesn't make a ton of sense for either side as the Trail Blazers chase a postseason berth via the play-in tournament and the Thunder are likely viewing an insurance big man as a luxury verse a necessity making it unappetizing to coax the Trail Blazers into giving up on Williams III who has logged 30 games already this season. Though this trade can work via a straight swap of Dieng's money or via the non-taxpayer midlevel exception with picks attached as the sweetener for this move. Williams III's connective passing, rim-rolling ability can fit the Thunder's style of play with an All-Defensive selection in his past. Replacing Dieng's slot on the roster would serve as a serious upgrade with Williams III.

Wild Card Target - Trey Murphy III: There is a reason Murphy III is considered a wild card. The chances of this move happening are smashed between slim to none. However, as Presti's calling card goes, "scared money don't make none," as the Thunder's top decision maker cited when explaining his move to trade for Paul George back in 2017. It would take either moving on from veteran defensive ace Lu Dort or, more likely, combining Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins to make just the salary work, much less the amount of draft assets the Thunder would need to come off of to entice the Pelicans to ship off the swingman.

In Conclusion

Presti always has his ear to the ground for potential trades. After all, he has given the NBA world two of the more shocking moves of the modern era only –– when he traded for and away All-Star forward Paul George and shipped out James Harden after a Finals run –– toppled by last February's Luka Doncic trade.

Though, expect these two weeks to come and go with just a footnote as opposed to any headline stealing swaps which will have the NBA world buzzing on Feb. 5.