After falling five wins short of back-to-back ambitions, the Oklahoma City Thunder return to square one along with the rest of the league. Enjoying spotless roster continuity over the last few years, they’re about to go through some roster shakeups around the complimentary pieces.
Such is life in the NBA. You can’t have the same group of guys together forever. Eventually, locker rooms change. New cast of characters shows up. Approaching a fork on the road, the Thunder might need to ship off some familiar faces — both for basketball and financial reasons.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are about to balloon OKC’s payroll for the foreseeable future. The two-time MVP winner will soon start his next megadeal. Meanwhile, Williams and Holmgren are about to start their contract extensions they signed last summer fresh off an NBA championship.
Because of that, the Thunder could ship out some role players. One is Aaron Wiggins. He has three years, $25.4 million left on his current contract — with a 2028-29 team option. Let’s lay out the case for why OKC should and shouldn’t shop the 27-year-old:
Why the Thunder should trade Wiggins
Sometimes, you just need a fresh start. Wiggins has had a storybook five seasons on the Thunder. We’re talking absolute best-case scenario here. As the 2021 No. 55 pick, he worked his way from a two-way rookie to a role player on an NBA champion. At this point, he’s carved out a spot in the NBA for the foreseeable future — something that rarely happens with guys taken in his draft slot. OKC got more than what it bargained for.
But this past season showed Wiggins being buried on the depth chart. And it feels like there’s no real chance for him to climb out of it, thanks to an abundance of talent being added. He regressed across the board. His 9.4 points on 43.1% shooting were a far cry from his usual efficiency in his first four seasons. His outside shot dropped to 35.6% from 3. And on defense, opposing teams exploited his weaknesses.
All those variables combined together, that explains why Wiggins was outside of the rotation in the NBA playoffs. The Thunder kept hoping he’d eventually turn the corner. But it just never happened. The shot-making talent disappeared. Younger players like Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain usurped him. And with some talent redundancy there, it makes sense for OKC to cash in on its chips and ship him elsewhere. Not only to save a few bucks on their payroll, but also to open up minutes for the rest of the depth chart.
It’s a pretty cut-throat tactic to deploy, but odds are, Wiggins has played his best basketball years in OKC already. He’s a great success story for their developmental program. One of the best, actually. He was a 12-point scorer in their championship season and showed he can up his outside volume while remaining efficient. He hit some big-time buckets en route to a Larry O’Brien trophy. And even had one of the best parade moments with his epic speech. But all good things come to an end. Role players usually don’t stay at one spot their whole career.
Why the Thunder should keep Wiggins
I mean, we can’t seriously give up on Wiggins after one bad year, can we? Sure, Wiggins had a down season. No denying that. But we’re talking about a guy who still shot 35.6% from 3 on 4.2 attempts. If that’s a down year, then several teams should be lining up to acquire his talents. If that’s the case, perhaps the Thunder should reconsider conducting a glorified salary dump for one of their bench pieces.
Wiggins has shown he can remain reliable. He’s played 70-plus games in three of his five seasons. That’s gotta count for something. In a league where guys get injured during the marathon, being able to rely on a healthy role player is a blessing most take for granted. Zooming out, the 27-year-old has been a productive player more times than not. And at his age, you expect him to bounce back and return to playing at the peak of his powers.
The Thunder ultimately were bounced out of the NBA playoffs because their offense dried up. It’d feel counterproductive to then get rid of one of their better bench scorers of this decade. I think Wiggins deserves some grace. He didn’t sustain any career-altering injuries to suggest he won’t return to form. His problems felt more mental than anything. If you’re OKC, you owe him the chance to get over his case of the yips.
On a sentimental value, Wiggins has built a strong bond with the OKC fanbase. He’s one of the longest-tenured players at this point. The Thunder have seen him grow up from a late second-round pick to a legitimate NBA player. And with such a team-friendly salary, there’s no real financial incentive to get off his deal. Give him one more year to figure things out. It’d be rather cruel to pull the plug this quickly after just a couple of bad months.
Final verdict
As much of a gutpunch as it’ll be, I think the Thunder should ultimately move on from Wiggins. As mentioned earlier, there are already a couple of other players who leapfrogged him. Mitchell and McCain are both younger players with room to grow. They’re about to add another lottery pick plus more. They gotta get minutes somewhere. And trading away the 27-year-old is one of the cleaner ways to open up playing time.
Wiggins being traded says more about OKC’s depth than a detriment to him. With the Thunder about to see their payroll skyrocket for the rest of the decade, they gotta be more cognizant and careful with how they field out the rest of the roster. Looking at other examples across the league, the scary apron penalties have really limited how much teams can spend on their teams — even if the on-court success justifies a hefty tax bill.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: The arguments for why OKC Thunder should, shouldn’t trade Aaron Wiggins
