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Treadmill Team
The Thunder sent shockwaves through local media today as the team traded promise-filled but buried swingman Romeo Langford along with a future 2nd round pick, Taj Gibson, and Dewayne Dedmon in exchange for star forward LaMarcus Aldridge. The move isn't consistent with that of a normal team that just finished 8th from the bottom - it will move them from not very good to decidedly average on paper... likely giving them the dreaded moniker of "Treadmill Team". Usually you don't see a younger, up and coming type of team trade some of their youth/potential capital for an aging 34 year old forward.
So why did they do it? Well, really some of it came down to cost - giving up a guy that was a lottery pick last year is a bit painful, but Aldridge immediately fills the role of best offensive player on the team. The team also went careening over a bridge after trading offensive focal point Khris Middleton last year and felt that this was a good way to reclaim that alpha dog scorer without giving up a significant portion of their building blocks. The fit with Lauri Markkanen is questionable at best - both of them profiling mainly as offensive-oriented 4 men. Unless Lauri can step up his defense and rebounding in order to play a "stretch 5" role, he may be coming off of the bench or wearing a different jersey. Other than that the fit looks pretty solid - the team will never be a defensive juggernaut, but giving De'Aaron Fox this many offensive weapons around him could be really fun to watch next season.
And that's what it really comes down to - fun. Losing isn't fun. Winning is fun. This move may get the Thunder into the playoffs next year - or at least that is the hope. They keep Lauri, Fox, Reddish, Devonte, Hield, Hayward, their top pick this season. They really are a pretty well-rounded team, except one thing - interior presence. They need at least a big body that can defend and rebound somewhere on this roster. Larry Nance Jr. is probably the closest to that thing - especially with Tristan Thompson not seeming super interested in coming back. If there isn't somebody at their pick who makes sense to fill that role, the team will have to use their limited free agency resources to go after somebody that does.
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