Jan 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) and guard Aaron Wiggins (21) celebrate after scoring against the New York Knicks during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images The Thunder have no playoff experience. The Nuggets have no depth. And the Clippers have James Harden.
Three strikes and they’re out … of Western Conference title contention.
Or so the trade-deadline actions of the Lakers, Mavericks, Warriors and Kings would have you believe.
Sensing an opening on the rail in their efforts to come from well off the pace in the Western playoff chase, four teams that basically had played themselves into afterthoughts stole the headlines this week.
Just what the flawed frontrunners didn’t need to see.
Standing pat—or basically so—at the trade deadline can be a smart move… when you’re as stacked as the Celtics.
But for the Thunder, Nuggets and Clippers … Did they really want to give LeBron and Stephen Curry hope?
In a buzzing week on the NBA transactions wire, let’s focus three lenses on what DIDN’T happen.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder are a great story. They’ve stockpiled draft picks, made wise selections and added smartly in free agency. They are the essence of up-and-coming.
Slow and steady might eventually win the race, and Sam Presti seems perfectly content playing the role of turtle jockey. Having made the Western semifinals last season, the Thunder’s dream script has them experiencing the Western finals this year before going for it all in 2026.
Presti had a chance to fast-forward the process at the trade deadline. He had, after all, arguably the greatest asset in the league—11 first-round picks in the next five drafts.
They can’t possibly use them all. But that’s OK, because the Thunder are just one superstar sidekick and a complementary piece or two from winning it all.
Seems very reasonable when dangling 11 quality picks.
Well, the deadline passed, and Presti still has all 11 picks in his back pocket. Maybe he’s thinking: If we offer five or six to the team that wins the next lottery … Seven or eight? All 11?
Does Cooper Flagg have a price tag?
Alas, if that’s the plan, it’s a dumb one. You don’t trade Duke for Duquesne. There’s no way the Thunder are getting Flagg.
So they’re stuck with an oversized bag of picks that will do nothing this May except weigh them down.
They might have stolen Jimmy Butler. Who’d have guessed Luka Doncic could be had? Instead, the Thunder acquired Daniel Theis and—get this—another pick (a second-rounder). And then they waived Theis. Eventually, they’ll waive the pick.
Perhaps the Thunder should be congratulated for staying the course. There’s a card in the mail. It says: Wait ‘til next year.
Denver Nuggets
Oct 14, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone reacts after he is called for a foul during the first half of the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images When three teams that have won a grand total of seven playoff series in the past eight seasons stand between you and the top of the conference, you have to feel pretty good about your chances of overtaking them.
So it’s not surprising that the Nuggets, for a completely different reason than the Thunder, would think they didn’t need to do anything at the deadline to improve their chances of a second trip to the NBA Finals in the last three seasons.
Except that the same thing that held the Nuggets back a year ago is the biggest reason why the Thunder, Grizzlies and Rockets have outplayed them this season: They don’t have championship depth.
Yes, the Nuggets rode the backs of their Big Four—Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray—to the 2023 title. But that team had a veteran fifth starter—Kentavious Caldwell-Pope—and trustworthy contributors on the bench—Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan.
This year’s squad has replaced Caldwell-Pope with Russell Westbrook, and they still have Jordan. But they’ll be counting upon kids—Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther—in May, and that’s not a comforting feeling.
And if Gordon, who already has missed two big chunks of the season with calf issues, needs a replacement in April … Well, Zeke Nnaji did make his first 3-pointer of the season this week.
The best thing to say about Watson and Strawther is they’ve played well enough to catch the eye of the many rebuilding teams. You know, like the Trail Blazers, who had Jerami Grant to offer, or the Nets, whose Cam Johnson had his bags packed.
Instead, the Nuggets did even less than the Thunder. Which now just might be the case in the postseason as well.
Los Angeles Clippers
Jan 25, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers guard James Harden (1) reacts against the Milwaukee Bucks in the second half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Remember when the Pacific Division was the AFC North of the NBA? Well, it still is. And if you watched the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns this past season, you’ll know that’s no longer a compliment.
There’s a reason the NBA is considering renaming the Western play-in tournament “The Left Coast Invitational.” Heck, the league probably even thought about offering a fifth Pacific team a bye.
That’s how mediocre the superstar-led Lakers, Clippers, Suns, Kings and Warriors have become.
But stubborn teams with stubborn fans don’t rebuild, so the fivesome straddled playoff and lottery futures until four of the five looked around this week and concluded: If all we have to do is beat a team with almost no playoff experience to get another shot at a title, then we need to go for it.
So the Lakers acquired Doncic, the Kings got Zach LaVine and the Warriors added Butler. And just like that, they have a heartbeat.
The Suns tried to follow suit, but found that nobody wanted Bradley Beal. Imagine that. So they get a pass.
Which leaves the Clippers, who were among the busiest teams at the deadline. They dealt five players and acquired four.
All has-beens and non-factors. Talk about a waste of paperwork.
Poor Kawhi Leonard. He and Kevin Durant become champions with a front-row seat come May. Again.
Maybe the Thunder or Rockets would have taken Harden back for seven first-round picks. You’d think the Clippers at least would have asked.
