Two former Thunder stars seen as team’s top trade targets

The NBA trade season will remain active until the deadline strikes in February. While most blockbusters take place in June and July of every offseason, there has been the occasional headliner in the month or two before the start of the NBA season, like when Kyrie Irving was dealt to the Boston Celtics back in August 2017.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are asset-rich. And while it’ll take nothing short of a miracle to pull off a trade on the level of what Boston did seven summers ago, we can’t entirely rule out the sneaky suspicion that has revolved around OKC in recent offseasons.

OKC’s top three trade targets

Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz penned an article titled “Imagining Every NBA Team’s Top 3 Trade Targets,” and he listed a trio of potential candidates the Thunder could look to pursue now or later. Interestingly, the writer sees an opening for the blue and orange to bring back a pair of former guards, one of them being a franchise icon.

Trade target No. 1: Dennis Schroder

“The Oklahoma City Thunder should be thrilled with their current roster and hold off on making any more trades for now. While the team waits for rookie Nikola Topić to recover from a torn ACL, bringing in a little point guard insurance behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the team's top priority,” writes Swartz.

Trade target No. 2: Simone Fontecchio

“Detroit won't necessarily want to trade him, although OKC has enough draft picks to make nearly any team consider parting with any player. Fontecchio would fit like a glove as a backup wing on this team, knocking down shots as part of the second unit.”

Trade target No. 3: Russell Westbrook

“Westbrook is a horrible fit on a Nuggets team that finished dead last in three-point attempts last season and then lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. At some point, Denver's front office will realize its mistake and look to trade or cut Westbrook before he does any more damage to the team's offense.”

Who to go for?

Swartz lists three intriguing options, all point guards. As much as seeing Westbrook on the list is an eye-opener, and, yes, this may strike a nerve deep down inside, the Thunder legend is more likely to retire tomorrow than play another game for the Thunder.

Age, attrition, playstyle, and several other factors would steer the Thunder away from returning a franchise icon regardless of how badly it yearns for the good ‘ol days (even though those days weren’t nearly as promising as these days).

While Russ’s fit in Denver is highly questionable, the more failed stops the future Hall of Famer makes, the less likely another NBA contract becomes.

Meanwhile, the most attainable option of the three players is Dennis Schroder, another ex-Thunder. The soon-to-be 31-year-old guard was Westbrook’s backup in his final years in OKC before a trade to the Houston Rockets.

With postseason experience and a unique combination of playmaking and scoring, Schroder can be a budget option for a Thunder team in need of a secondary facilitator. Especially as a player who has extensive experience thriving off the bench, even going back to his days with the Atlanta Hawks, adding the German to the roster appears like the most logical option. While he isn’t necessarily on the table to be traded by the Brooklyn Nets, as Swartz says, the Thunder can simply offer enough that teams will get lured in enough to hear them out.

Related: Big Perk once said Westbrook and Durant killed the Thunder