Thunder Roster: Prime For Center Acquisition

If one thing is clear, it’s that Chet Holmgren is the center of the future in Oklahoma City. After being selected by the Thunder No. 2 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, the versatile 7-footer immediately became part of the young core.

After a spectacular showing in NBA Summer League, Holmgren suffered a season-ending foot injury, leaving Oklahoma City without a true center that can play significant minutes in the 2022-23 season.

This has been very evident early early in the season, as many of the Thunder’s deficiencies are due to a lack of frontcourt size.

For starters, there’s been 14 games this season in which the opposing starting center has scored 20 or more points against the Thunder. This includes two games with 30 or more, including a season-high 39 points from Nikola Jokic.

While the Thunder have actually been a good rebounding team, the production on the glass hasn’t come from the frontcourt primarily, as Josh Giddey leads the team in boards and two of their top four rebounders are guards.

Furthermore, Oklahoma City allows the third most points in the paint (54.6) of any team in the league.

Even with these weaknesses due to roster composition, the Thunder have put together a 11-15 start to the season. They’re still well within reach of the play-in picture, which begs the question if it’s worth acquiring a center before the trade deadline to see what this team could look like.

Ideally, Oklahoma City could identify a big that could be a short-term stopgap for the remainder of this season, but could also be complimentary to Holmgren moving forward, whether that’s alongside him or as a backup.

Even if the Thunder were to trade for a center, but still miss the play-in, the move would be well worth it.

For starters, there’s a plethora of young talent on this roster that would benefit from playing alongside a true center.

Furthermore, this would give the rest of the roster exposure to playing alongside a legitimate big. This could make Holmgren’s debut next season more smooth and less of a tough transition for those around him.

The forwards on the team have been asked to play out of position at center quite a bit this season, so this would allow them to get reps in the other frontcourt spot leading up to Holmgren’s return. For the guards, adding a center as a lob threat and vertical spacer on the floor would provide tremendous value. It would also do wonders for defensive schemes and give this young roster more of an opportunity to play like it will in years upcoming.

Adding a center to this Thunder roster makes a ton of sense for multiple reasons, alleviating problems now and potential issues longer term.

As it relates to targets, there’s plenty that could be acquired without giving up significant assets.

Mo Bamba

With the emergence of guys like Bol Bol and Wendell Carter Jr., Bamba’s role has been reduced this season. Furthermore, he’s reportedly available for trade in the right deal.

Bamba is similar to Chet as it relates to being a rim protector and floor spacer and would be the perfect fit on this roster. He’s also only 24 years old and could be part of the Thunder’s longer term plans.

Jaxson Hayes

Set to enter free agency this summer, Hayes would be a rental for Oklahoma City. With that in mind, this also makes him easier to acquire from an asset swap standpoint.

If he were to be traded for and worked out in the Thunder system, they could give him a new deal. A super athletic big, Hayes could also play alongside Holmgren down the road.

Day’Ron Sharpe

Sharpe is undersized at 6-foot-10, but is a legitimate center with the strength and power to hold his own against traditional bigs. He’s just 21 years old and has never gotten a significant role on the Brooklyn Nets since being drafted late in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft.

As someone that could be a great backup center when Holmgren returns, Sharpe’s contract is also under control for long enough that the Thunder would find it feasible to part ways with a halfway decent asset to acquire him. He could immediately slot in as a starter this season.

It will be interesting to see what Oklahoma City does closer to the deadline. That could be a clear indicator of the way this team goes the rest of the way. If the Thunder are in a position to make a play-in push and are out of the race to the bottom of the standings, it wouldn’t be surprising for a marginal move to occur. On the flip side, if they’re closer to the bottom of the standings, they could be more conservative.

Regardless, adding a center would benefit this team in the short and long term.