Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Oklahoma City Thunder traded forward Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks for two future second-round picks.
- The move helps the Thunder manage salary cap issues as extensions for Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams take effect.
- The Thunder are expected to continue shedding salary, with potential trades involving Nikola Topic, Thomas Sorber, and possibly Luguentz Dort next.
After falling in the Western Conference Finals to the San Antonio Spurs, you knew the Oklahoma City Thunder were going to be in store for an eventful offseason.
On Monday, the Thunder made their first big move, trading their soon-to-be sixth-year forward Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for two second round picks (one in 2030, and another in 2032).
While signaling a new opportunity for an intriguing young player who was straddled on a loaded team, it also marks the beginning of a new era of Thunder basketball.
The Thunder are now sellers
Ironically enough, it wasn't because the team fell short, but rather, with the extensions of Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams finally kicking in, the Thunder needed to shed salary in order to avoid facing some harsh financial penalties.
Once upon a time, Oklahoma City was in the business of collecting all the young talent they could. But when your talent gets older, their contracts get larger. So, you can't hold on to luxury assets anymore.
Wiggins is a good basketball player, who will help the Hawks out next season. He is a career 38 percent 3-point shooter, boasts a 6-foot-10 wingspan (which helps on the defensive side of the ball), and will still be just 27 years old heading into next season.
However, since the Thunder had so much depth, Wiggins fell out of the rotation during the postseason, ranking 12th in total minutes played. The Thunder have to get their priorities in order, and part of that means getting off guys like Wiggins in order to make sure that they can retain their core guys without being deep into the luxury tax.
Moving forward, the next steps will likely include seeing if the Thunder can't garner a similar return for guys like Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber. Two guys who are younger, but less proven, than Wiggins. Kenrich Williams, Jaylin Williams, and Isaiah Joe are some other names to keep an eye on as the Thunder continue to look to shed salary (Kenrich has a team option, which the Thunder could simply just decline if they really want to).
If the Thunder are really looking to get audacious in their cost-cutting, they may look to deal Luguentz Dort, who has a $17.7 million dollar team option for next season. They have a younger, more effective replacement for him in Cason Wallace. The only issue is that Dort is both a locker room and fan favorite, so its hard to put a dollar amount on that.
As for Wiggins, it will be fun to monitor how he looks next season when he has more room to spread his wings and isn't stuck on one of the deepest teams in the association.
More NBA news and analysis:
Add us as a preferred source on Google