6 Chet Holmgren landing spots after Thunder star's Game 7 disappearance
The Oklahoma City Thunder weren't good enough. It came down to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, but eventually the Thunder's bid to repeat as champions was ended by the San Antonio Spurs . With San Antonio destined to be an obstacle for a long time, OKC will undoubtedly
The Oklahoma City Thunder weren't good enough. It came down to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, but eventually the Thunder's bid to repeat as champions was ended by the San Antonio Spurs .
With San Antonio destined to be an obstacle for a long time, OKC will undoubtedly look for ways to improve in the offseason to stack up better. And they have an embarrassment of assets to do so in short order, be it players or picks.
One such player is Chet Holmgren , the former No. 2 overall pick who completely disappeared in a four-point performance Saturday. At just 24 years old, he's still young enough to be an attractive trade chip and potential centerpiece of a deal for OKC to land another star to pair with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander .
These are the best landing spots for Holmgren in such a deal:
If I'm the Thunder, this is the deal I'm pursuing with everything I have. This would be their version of the Warriors adding Kevin Durant in 2016 when the Cavs stopped Golden State's repeat bid. Giannis Antetokounmpo wants out of Milwaukee and nobody can offer more than OKC to get him.
Anthony Davis has made his desires to play for a contending team clear. Though he's stopped short of demanding a trade out of Washington, the Wizards could get ahead of a potential demand down the line by shipping him to OKC for Holmgren, who fits in nicely with Washington's young core.
With their fourth-straight lottery pick coming up in this year's draft, and highest of them all at No. 2, the Jazz seemingly have a young core they can begin building around. Which should make the 29-year-old Lauri Markkanen expendable in a potential deal for someone closer to their young timeline, like Holmgren.
This deal would be a swap of talented but frustrating bigs, Holmgren and Evan Mobley , with the hope that a new environment would light a fire under each. OKC probably makes this move without a second thought, but I'm not sure why the Cavs would want to trade Mobley for basically a more passive version of himself.
