As the NBA progresses toward the postseason, many are beginning to handicap which teams have a strong chance to make a deep run in the coming weeks.
After ranking near the top of the Western Conference for most of the 2018-19 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have struggled since the All-Star break and have dropped to eighth in the standings.
While the Thunder still have eight games left in the regular season to get back on track, and to improve their playoff positioning, the notion of the team making a deep run seems to be an afterthought.
Of course, the Thunder can still turn things around and advance far into the playoffs but the idea of another first-round exit was recently explored with ESPN reporters Royce Young and Nick Friedell on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast.
Windhorst: If the Thunder get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, with their payroll, what is the fallout from that?
Young: I don’t think any significant changes, like core changes, would be coming. I do think a player like Dennis Schroder is gonna be somebody that they might look to move in the offseason. They kinda traded for him to see — they view him as a re-tradeable asset. I don’t think that he’s gonna play out his contract in OKC.
The apparent thought is the Thunder may look to trade Schroder in order to flip him for some better pieces that could help the team become more consistent.
The addition of Schroder has paid off dividends for the Thunder this season with Russell Westbrook missing some time. Schroder has given the team another scorer off of the bench and helped the offense at times but he has been inconsistent.
Schroder is averaging 15.7 points, 4.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds this season while converting on 41.5 percent of his shots, including 34 percent from 3-point range. He has been especially great for the Thunder recently, posting 51 total points over his past two games.
Conversations happen often around the league often with potential trade talks so the Thunder looking at their options this offseason with Schroder may not necessarily be all that surprising. They may look to make a move if they feel as though Schroder can return a better piece.
The idea of trading Schroder is merely speculation at this point so it is entirely possible a move never happens. It could be something to monitor this summer, though, especially if the Thunder have another early exit from the playoffs.
