- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,133,639
- Reaction score
- 59
Everything is on the table for the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason. That's what happens when you fall short of a repeat NBA championship.
The Thunder could run it back (still the most likely option) and hope they face the Spurs with a healthier roster. That option feels most Thunder-like. They could trade All-NBA big man Chet Holmgren, perhaps even for someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo. The less likely trade candidate in such a roster-shifting move would be Jalen Williams, who was All-NBA and All-Defense when Oklahoma City won the 2025 NBA title. However, when healthy, Williams is clearly a better player than Holmgren and would probably be more attractive to a prospective trade partner, be it the Bucks or someone else.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault lamented just how much his team missed Williams in their loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals:
See, but that's the rub with Williams, at least as far as this season was concerned.
He wasn't healthy.
Lingering hamstring issues meant Williams played in just 33 regular-season games in 2025-2026 and only four postseason games. Given how much Williams fills in the blanks as a defensive, connecting Swiss Army Knife alongside two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, that is simply untenable. It is actually remarkable that the Thunder even came one win short of back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, even though they essentially never had a healthy Williams.
That leaves Oklahoma City with two options here.
Let Williams get healthy, rest his hamstring, and trust that this past season was an aberration for a young man who has only just turned 25 years old. Trust that he will have better injury luck moving forward and that he can reignite his tremendous chemistry with Gilgeous-Alexander with more availability next year. The alternative is selling on Williams now, knowing his youth and upside could be enough for another team to make the very same bet, while potentially getting a "better" player next to Gilgeous-Alexander. Whatever the case, Williams isn't damaged goods. He's young and was just unlucky in a moment where the reigning champions were trying to defend their title. It happens.
The Thunder have a fascinating summer ahead of them. Call it a hunch, but Oklahoma City running it back, to a tee, anyway, probably won't happen.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Thunder, Jalen Williams: Could OKC trade young star and blow it up?
Continue reading...
The Thunder could run it back (still the most likely option) and hope they face the Spurs with a healthier roster. That option feels most Thunder-like. They could trade All-NBA big man Chet Holmgren, perhaps even for someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo. The less likely trade candidate in such a roster-shifting move would be Jalen Williams, who was All-NBA and All-Defense when Oklahoma City won the 2025 NBA title. However, when healthy, Williams is clearly a better player than Holmgren and would probably be more attractive to a prospective trade partner, be it the Bucks or someone else.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault lamented just how much his team missed Williams in their loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals:
See, but that's the rub with Williams, at least as far as this season was concerned.
He wasn't healthy.
Lingering hamstring issues meant Williams played in just 33 regular-season games in 2025-2026 and only four postseason games. Given how much Williams fills in the blanks as a defensive, connecting Swiss Army Knife alongside two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, that is simply untenable. It is actually remarkable that the Thunder even came one win short of back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, even though they essentially never had a healthy Williams.
That leaves Oklahoma City with two options here.
Let Williams get healthy, rest his hamstring, and trust that this past season was an aberration for a young man who has only just turned 25 years old. Trust that he will have better injury luck moving forward and that he can reignite his tremendous chemistry with Gilgeous-Alexander with more availability next year. The alternative is selling on Williams now, knowing his youth and upside could be enough for another team to make the very same bet, while potentially getting a "better" player next to Gilgeous-Alexander. Whatever the case, Williams isn't damaged goods. He's young and was just unlucky in a moment where the reigning champions were trying to defend their title. It happens.
The Thunder have a fascinating summer ahead of them. Call it a hunch, but Oklahoma City running it back, to a tee, anyway, probably won't happen.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Thunder, Jalen Williams: Could OKC trade young star and blow it up?
Continue reading...
