NBA Trade Rumors: 1 Small move every contender should make before the trade deadline
By Matt Sidney
Oklahoma City Thunder acquire Kelly Olynyk from the Utah Jazz
It was hard not to get too carried away with the Thunder's "fringe" player pick. After all, they have a catalog of young assets and draft assets that could easily land them a star. We have already played around with that exercise, so for now, we will focus only on the edges.
The Thunder's depth chart currently has 6-foot-6, G/F Kenrich Williams as their backup center. This needs to change in order for the Thunder to make a legitimate Championship run. Kelly Olynyk gives the Thunder the assurance they need, backing up a young and frail Chet Holmgren.
The Thunder have all the second-rounders to throw at the Jazz in addition to the salary of Davis Bertans. Olynyk gives the Thunder size, shooting acumen, solid rebounding ability, and sound playmaking off the bench. This is exactly the type of player Championship rosters covet. Olynyk provides the necessary big man bench depth to get Chet and the Thunder past the bruising bigs in the West, such as Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Domantas Sabonis, and Jonas Valanciunas.
The Thunder make a few ripples here, while not compromising the current structure and pecking order of the second-best team, record-wise, in the West.