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In a surprising move, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets participated in an eight player trade over the weekend. Neither team received star players, but rather swapped some rotational pieces.
Here is the full trade in detail:
Houston receives:
- Derrick Favors
- Ty Jerome
- Moe Harkless
- Theo Maledon
- 2025 second-round pick
Oklahoma City receives:
- David Nwaba
- Sterling Brown
- Trey Burke
- Marquese Chriss
With the trade being completed, Oklahoma City was able to move off the contract of Derrick Favors who is guaranteed $10 million this season. In doing so, the Thunder were able to drop under the luxury tax and add two trade exceptions.
Cap-centric deal for both teams: Thunder gain two trade exceptions and drop about $10M under luxury tax. Rockets get a second-round pick for taking on $1M in salary. Favors will have value as a backup center, or elsewhere on a trade in marketplace too. https://t.co/k8zpgthwOh
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 30, 2022
Of those traded the Thunder will miss Theo Maledon the most. The young guard had shown flashes of potential in his two seasons with Oklahoma City.
In his rookie season, Maledon was given the chance to start at point guard and made the most of the opportunity. He scored a career high 33 points in his rookie season and picked up a handful of 20 point games in his sophomore year.
With Maledon gone to Houston, this opens the door for Tre Mann to become the full time backup point guard. Mann might actually start the season in the backcourt with Josh Giddey until Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returns from injury.
Of the players acquired from Houston Trey Burke is the most likely to crack the Thunder’s rotation. The veteran has been a known spark plug off the bench throughout his career. Burke should provide a nice scoring punch for OKC.
We will see if anyone else from this swap of players has an impact in a Thunder uniform.
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