The Oklahoma City Thunder are viewed as the NBA title favorites by a large chunk of the NBA community. However, if they fall short in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, this team has more than enough ammunition to grab themselves some extra firepower.
Critics have continued to question whether the Thunder will have enough offense to truly compete for a championship past MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Skeptics have doubted whether Jalen Williams can fill the secondary scorer role adequately once the postseason rolls around, despite Oklahoma City owning the fourth-best offensive rating (118.4) in basketball during the 2024-25 season.
Should the 2025 offseason come around with the Thunder having nothing to show for this campaign, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report suggested a trade to boost the offense further in Oklahoma City.
The trade goes as follows.
Oklahoma City Thunder receive: Lauri Markkanen.
***Utah Jazz receive:***Nikola Topic, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Kenrich Williams, Ousmane Dieng, 2025 first-round pick (top-14 protected via Miami Heat), 2026 first-round pick.
Swartz offered these thoughts as justification for why the Thunder can and should pursue Markannen: "OKC is deep enough to be able to acquire a former All-Star like Markkanen without giving up any of its core pieces and still has a massive amount of first-round picks to offer as well. Markkanen is a low-maintenance star who would fit in well with this group as a third-fourth scoring option who brings size and floor-stretching to the starting frontcourt."
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The Jazz have been rebuilding for quite some time. With no end in sight at the moment, getting an opportunity to add young players and more draft capital is likely something they would strongly consider.
The Thunder are obviously rich enough in the asset pool to pursue a deal for just about anyone in the association. Markkanen would be a nice addition, in theory. However, it is worth pondering whether they can do better in terms of an all-in play to really push for the franchise's first championship.
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This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 10:46 AM.