OKC Thunder Should Stay Put At NBA Trade Deadline

The Oklahoma City Thunder are 25-3, by far the best record in the league and are once again showing why they are the most talented and deepest roster in the entire NBA.

Though, they have lost two of their last three games with similar trends that tripped the Bricktown Ballers up at times last postseason continuing to develop. In these past two losses, the Thunder have labored to create offense as the game went along in the second half against a set defense in the half-court, while shooting 24% and 28% from the 3-point line, respectively.

Despite the goodwill built up fresh off a championship and already owning 25 wins this season, it isn't enough to fend off trade-crazed NBA fans from firing up the trade machine and concocting swaps that are more than unlikely to happen by the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline.

Though, these two losses have conceded with the NBA Trade season heating up with everyone eligible to be moved from now until the deadline. As talks heat up around the association with big names such as Giannis Antetokounmpo looming down to needle movers like Keon Ellis to be had between now and February, the discussion around Bricktown regarding the impending deadline should be mute.

Sure, there are ways this Thunder team could improve, but that will be the case with and without a mid-season move. No team has ever been constructed perfectly and Oklahoma City has done a great job of building a roster with minimal flaws.

It is sort of like plugging a leak in a boat, or playing wack-a-mole. As soon as one issue is taken care of, another sprouts up.

The OKC Thunder could stand to add a more consistent sharpshooter, but the needle threading you would have to do to give away something and someone of value and add in this hypothetical shooter would throw the team off balance. The likelihood of the Thunder adding a mythical shooter who doesn't subtract from his historically great defense –- of which this title team is built on –– are slim to none.

Not to mention altering the chemistry of this tight knit team. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to navigate their murky half-court offense and streaky at best 3-point shooting a year ago to their first championship and are still the title favorites to this day. Roster moves discourse will heat up hot and heavy this summer –- for good reason, Sam Presti and company will be forced to do something –– but mid-season is far too soon to make a move.

This is still a team that should lean on internal development. As Ajay Mitchell gets more comfortable with his larger role alongside an improving Jalen Williams, who is still working his way back into form after his offseason wrist surgery, these two outcomes alone would help the team generate better half-court offense in the biggest moments, taking care of the biggest issue on their team.

From there, you hope you run into shooting luck with the role players in Bricktown, with home court advantage throughout the postseason, as role players typically shoot better at home. That was not their receipe a year ago, finishing 13th out of the 16 team playoff field from distance a year ago, but even slight improvement would have been enough to improve their postseason outcome that saw two seven game series en route to that Championship.

The only. thing that should be on Oklahoma City's radar this trade season is moving on from former lottery pick Ousmane Dieng for little-to-nothing in return. The biggest benefit being to clear a roster spot making way to convert seven-footer Branden Carlson to the 15 man roster, allowing him to be postseason eligible and add insurance to the team's front court.