The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently in the middle of defending their title, sitting tied 2-2 in a competitive playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
So, why would the defending champions and one of the deepest rosters in basketball consider trading away one of their franchise players?
Because Jalen Williams can’t stay healthy.
OKC finished 64-18 during the regular season, good enough for the top seed in the conference, and has since swept the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers before their current battle with the Spurs.
Now back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been among the best players in the postseason, averaging 27.7 points (third in the playoffs), along with 8.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game, while shooting 47.1% from the field.
Williams, meanwhile, has appeared in just four postseason games due to a left hamstring strain, an injury that now has him on the verge of missing a pivotal Game 5 back in Oklahoma City.
What’s most troubling is that it’s starting to look like a pattern with Williams. He played in just 33 regular-season games this year, battling wrist surgery recovery and multiple hamstring strains, and he has yet to complete a full season over his four-year career.
Williams returned for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, only to re-aggravate the same hamstring injury in Game 2. He was ruled out for Game 4, and his status is currently up in the air for Game 5.
With OKC still looking competitive without Williams, NBA insiders are asking a pointed question: what happens when the bill comes due?
According to ESPN’s Ben Golliver and financial analyst Bobby Marks, Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Chet Holmgren combined to make $58.6 million this season.
Next year, thanks to lucrative rookie extensions for Holmgren and Williams, that number explodes to $123.8 million, putting OKC squarely in danger of the NBA’s dreaded second apron.
As a result, ESPN’s Golliver has proposed a blockbuster that sends Williams to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Michael Porter Jr., plus Brooklyn’s 2027, 2029, and 2031 first-round picks.
Marks suggested Brooklyn could sweeten the deal further by including unprotected Knicks picks (2027, 2029, 2031) along with a Denver first, picks acquired in previous trades.
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Porter put up a career-high 24.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists this season while shooting 46.3% from the field and 36.4% from deep in his first year with Brooklyn, a breakout season that’s proven he can step up as a franchise’s go-to-scoring option.
Porter arrived in Brooklyn after spending six seasons in Denver, where he served as the Nuggets’ No. 3 scoring option behind Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray and helped the franchise win its first-ever championship in 2023.
Not only is he a proven winner, but he’s a 6-foot-10 wing who thrives on catch-and-shoot opportunities and off-ball movement, the exact type of player an SGA-led offense would unlock beautifully.
He’d slide in alongside Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren as a floor-spacing forward who doesn’t need the ball to impact games, a cleaner fit alongside Shai than Williams, whose usage sometimes creates crowding in the backcourt.
The reality is that OKC’s window is open right now, and trading Williams during a title run feels counterintuitive. But the Thunder have already shown they can dominate without him.
Golliver framed the potential deal as a modern echo of Sam Presti’s infamous 2012 James Harden trade: painful in the moment, brilliant in retrospect.
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