NBA: Looking back at 8 of the best/worst offseason moves from the summer

The Thunder acquiring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

One would think that any team that loses one of their best players in a transaction is the loser in that trade. But that surprisingly hasn’t been the case for OKC.

Along with the Lakers, the Clippers are considered one of the title favorites, due to their depth and duo of Leonard and George, but OKC was also in dire need of a rebuild for quite some time. Arguably going as far back as 2016 when Durant left for the Warriors.

Yet the Thunder are surprisingly 15 and 14, and once the inevitable happens (Gallinari departs either via free agency or trade and CP3 somehow convinces a desperate team to take on his enormous contract), a full-on rebuild will finally begin with Alexander as a centerpiece. And luckily for him, Alexander has had the privilege of having CP3 as his teammate to absorb the future Hall of Famer’s basketball knowledge.

This offseason, Presti has also shrewdly been able to snag multiple future first-round picks in their trades with the Rockets and Clippers, so depending on what range the Thunder are able to draft, expect Presti to do his due diligence on prospects and actually hit on most of them like we have grown accustomed to seeing.