Boston Celtics: 2 Oklahoma City Thunder big men ‘available for next to nothing’

The usual buyers and sellers of the NBA trade market are back at it again this offseason. In the former group is the Boston Celtics, whose President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens says he has the green light from ownership to be aggressive in the trade market. The latter group has your also-ran cellar-dwellers — which since the Russell Westbrook/Paul George trades in 2017, has been led by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

OKC has 38 picks in the next seven NBA Drafts, including an astounding four first-round picks in 2024. Thunder GM Sam Presti has built up one of the most impressive treasure chests of assets the league has ever seen. Someday, they’ll be in the position to cash those chips in and add a foundational piece around a burgeoning young core that includes Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, Josh Giddey, and now the 2022 NBA Draft’s No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren.

That day is not anytime soon. Once the on-court results show that this team is close to contention, one figures Presti will move his chips to the middle of the table like he did in 2017 when he acquired Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in separate deals. Until then, the Thunder are in asset-hoarding mode.

That could benefit the Boston Celtics profoundly. The Cs are in the market for a backup big man after trading Daniel Theis, and according to MassLive’s Brian Robb, the Thunder have a pair they’d be willing to part with for ‘next to nothing’. With that said, there’s a catch…

"“Derrick Favors, JaMychal Green are a couple names likely to be available in OKC for next to nothing but would probably be too pricy for Boston without them dumping other salaries in a deal.”"

Who the Boston Celtics could part with in a trade for Derrick Favors or JaMychal Green

When it comes to trading with the Oklahoma City Thunder, only players under 25, or for some reason Mike Muscala, are of interest. Besides Muscala, Favors, and Green, every player on the Thunder roster is 25 or younger.

The Boston Celtics have two obvious young players that could be valuable to OKC in Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard, but it’s debatable if either would be worth giving up in a deal for either of the two available Thunder bigs. If anything, Brad Stevens should see if Presti would be willing to part with a draft pick to corral a pair of promising young sharpshooters.

Anything short of that, and Stevens likely walks away from the negotiating table with the Thunder GM.