Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is eligible for a rookie-scale extension of $168 million this summer and is believed to be available in trade talks, per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
That said, Fischer is hearing the Thunder have a placed a “significant asking price” on Gilgeous-Alexander for interested teams.
“It’s going to take a f–king lot to get him, but he’s no longer impossible to get,” one team executive told Fischer.
There’s been talk that Thunder head of basketball operations Sam Presti is looking to move into the top three of Thursday’s NBA Draft, and Gilgeous-Alexander could be among the possible bargaining chips. The Thunder also own three first-round picks overall — Nos. 6, 16 and 18.
Per Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, the Thunder have already been rebuffed by the Pistons once in an attempt to land the No. 1 overall pick. That offer consisted of Gilgeous-Alexander and the No. 6 pick, Fischer noted.
While actually finding a deal centered on SGA may be difficult, the Thunder could potentially look to move up in the draft using solely their draft picks.
“There’s still a strong expectation that OKC will search for avenues to move up in the first round, with a swap centered on the Thunder sending pick Nos. 16 and 18 to Charlotte for No. 11 as a deal structure to monitor,” Fischer wrote. “There’s a sense among team officials that Oklahoma City and Toronto are exploring options on swapping the No. 4 and No. 6 picks as well.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, 23, is 6-foot-6 and averaged 23.7 points, 5.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 35 games last season.
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