The Oklahoma City Thunder have a lot of tough decisions to make moving forward when it comes to who stays and who goes.
Tough enough that you can say everyone outside of reigning NBA MVP and NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could move somewhere else in a trade.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons put SGA’s main running mate, NBA All-Star Jalen Williams, as a possible trade candidate following this season.
Williams signed a 5-year contract extension worth up to $287 million with the Thunder in July 2025 and would be an incredible asset in any trade. Williams is a player who could return multiple 1st-round picks to the Thunder, if not something even more than that.
“OKC has a lot of money to spend over the next couple of years,” Simmons said. “And I just sometimes wonder, like, if it doesn’t work out (for the Thunder) this year, how does that play out … look, he’s looked good lately. I don’t think there’s a lot to worry abou there. But I also think it’s going to be really hard to have three max (contract) guys plus Cason Wallace, plus all these draft picks. And I do wonder, if (the Thunder) are going to take a huge swings, what does that look like? Now, if they win the title again, they’re not trading anybody. But who knows?”
Williams played in a career-low 33 regular-season games this season due to a nagging hamstring injury and also sat out the regular-season finale against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
The Thunder open their NBA title defense in the playoffs against an opponent still yet to be determined after the play-in games. It’s the 3rd consecutive season Oklahoma City has the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
Tracking Jalen Williams’ Path to NBA Champion
Williams, 6-foot-5 and 211 pounds, has established himself as 1 of the NBA’s most versatile players the last 4 seasons.
Taken in the 1st round (No. 12 overall) by the Thunder out of Santa Clara in the 2022 NBA draft, Williams earned All-NBA Rookie Team honors in 2022-23 after he averaged 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals and was runner-up in NBA Rookie of the Year voting to Orlando Magic power forward Paolo Banchero.
Williams leveled up in his 2nd season with 19.1 points 4.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.1 steals. His 3rd season helped propel the Thunder to the 1st championship in Oklahoma City history with career highs in points (21.6), rebounds (5.3), assists (5.1), steals (1.6), and minutes (32.4) while also earning All-NBA Team and NBA All-Star honors for the 1st time.
In the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Williams became just the 2nd player in NBA history under 25 years old to have at least 25 points and 5 rebounds in 3 consecutive NBA Finals games following Orlando Magic center Shaquille O’Neal in 1995.
Jalen Williams Opens Up On Injury Struggles
Williams is dealing with serious injury issues for the 1st time in his career this season — and it’s been a frustrating stop-and-start process as he attemps to get back to full strength.
“Anybody that’s had a hamstring injury, it’s never during, it’s usually after (the game),” Williams told ESPN on March 26. “Tonight, will be another test. Obviously, I played two games before and then I got hurt (again). These next games are more the test.”
Blockbuster Trade Pitch Targets $287 Million OKC Thunder All-Star