Thunder
The Thunder may have the strongest of all offers should they decide to make a run at Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, wrote Brett Siegel of Clutch Points.
“Only one team in the league has the ability to offer said trade package right now, and that team is the Oklahoma City Thunder,” Siegel wrote. “As crazy as it may sound, the Thunder are in position to add a star player this offseason, immediately impacting their chances to reclaim the 1-seed in the Western Conference and possibly making a realistic push toward the 2025 NBA Finals. There is a growing belief around the league that the Thunder will be in play for a major trade over the next several months, so is it hard to believe they could pursue Markkanen?”
It’s not hard to believe, one source told Hoops Wire, but it definitely seems like a long shot.
- Thunder forward Jalen Williams indicated he aims to keep playing at an “elite” defensive level next season. “I think another big thing for me was just talking to the front office and, you know, coach (Mark Daigneault) and the coaching staff was just not losing the two-way versatility that I have, playing both sides of the ball,” Williams said, via Mark Nilon of Fansided. “I think my defense is at a really elite level and it kind of gets overshadowed because I’m scoring 20 points a game.”
- Here is what a trade of Markkanen to the Thunder could look like, as we wrote in our ever-popular hypothetical trade proposals.
Suns
The Suns are hiring former NBA guard and current Spurs front-office man Brent Barry as an assistant on new coach Mike Budenholzer‘s staff, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Barry has spent the past six seasons in San Antonio’s front office. He is the son of NBA legend Rick Barry and played under Budenholzer when Budenholzer was an assistant coach with the Spurs.
- Could the Heat try to pry away star forward Kevin Durant from the Suns? One analyst sure seems to think so.
Pelicans
Despite all the Brandon Ingram chatter, the Pelicans may not have a major deal looming.
“There is a financial reality to this,” executive vice president David Griffin recently said in an interview with Sirius XM radio. “And where I think we can go in terms of keeping this group together, might not be as far as he and his agency would like us to be able to go. So for now, we’re going to play it out. I think we’re committed to each other and committed to seeing if this team can work in a way that makes sense.”
- Christian Clark of NOLA.com took a deeper look at the roster and what may or may not happen next.
- The Pelicans are signing former Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves to a three-year contract, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Reeves was the No. 47 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft (by the Magic, then traded to the Pelicans).
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