OKC Thunder: 3 must-watch storylines this coming season

3. Will Presti flip some more of OKC’s veterans for future picks and assets?

Sam Presti has been a master at trading players for future draft picks and assets. In just the past few seasons Presti has flipped Paul George for five first-round draft picks, two draft swaps, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the face of the franchise for the future. Presti also flipped Russell Westbrook for two first-round picks, two pick swaps, and Chris Paul, who was recently dealt to Phoenix for even more draft picks and other assets.

So the question is if Presti will flip some of the OKC Thunder’s veterans, like Al Horford and George Hill, at some point in the season to a contending team in need of their services. Hill would be the easiest vet to flip, given the fact that his current contract, which has two years and around $20 million remaining, is not a major burden for a team to take on.

Hill could very easily be a valuable point guard off the bench for a contending team, given the fact that he takes very good care of the ball, averaging an extremely low 1.3 turnovers per game in his 14-year career. The 34-year old guard is also among the NBA’s best 3-point shooters, shooting a career 38.4 percent from deep including shooting a career-high 46 percent from beyond the arc last season in Milwaukee.

Horford, on the other hand, will be much more difficult to flip due to being owed around $81 million over the next three seasons, a contract which many call the worst in the NBA. It also does not help that Horford massively underperformed in Philadelphia last season which has made many question whether the 34-year old big man is on a steep decline production-wise.

While it will be difficult to flip Horford without acquiring another bad contract in return, it is not impossible. For one thing, Horford is on an OKC team that does not have a lot of options offensively, so his numbers will certainly make a significant jump and could be similar to what he put up during his time in Atlanta and Boston, in which he was very productive. Horford also brings veteran leadership which is often a major piece that contending teams are missing so that could be another appeal to bringing in Horford.

The Thunder already have a boatload of first-round draft picks through the rest of this decade but that number could very easily grow by the end of the 2020-21 season if Presti is able to flip guys like Hill and Horford.