Last night Woj and Sham dropped a series of tweets involving a very complicated four-way trade. If you want to know the details, go here.
So what does this mean for OKC? Well, there’s a couple new possibilities that have emerged.
Dennis Got Way More Valuable
If you do the math, that’s now three Minnesota point guards traded this season. Jeff Teague was shipped to Atlanta, while Napier and Bates-Diop are off to Denver. Minnesota received zero point guards in return. According to my calculations, the Timberwolves do not have a point guard on the roster.
If you thought Presti was gonna ask for a whole heap of assets before last night, just think about what he’s asking now. He’s got Minnesota right where he wants them, just holding his prolific point guard over their heads.
Houston is not Done Trading
Another huge hole among these teams’ rosters following the trade is Houston’s lack of a center. Both Capela and Nene were shipped off, and they only received Jordan Bell. That’s not enough to go up against the likes of Steven Adams, Jokic, and AD in the playoffs.
While unlikely, it’s possible we start to see conversations of Steven Adams or Nerlens Noel to Houston. The Rockets removed quite a bit of salary last night, meaning they could theoretically get something done. Again, pretty unlikely, but just something to keep in mind.
Denver Could Try for Gallinari
It’s no secret at this point that Presti will hold on to Gallinari for as long as necessary. No one except OKC can pay Gallo what he deserves this offseason, meaning we could simply resign him to another year and run this back. But with all the role players Denver picked up, they may be more flexible in shipping off some of their young core.
Of course, that would mean they would need to give us someone like Murray or MPJ, two players Denver seems determined to keep. But this trade definitely changes that perspective a bit. Is it enough to get a deal done? We’ll see.