The trade chatter around the Thunder is already moving fast, but one idea that keeps popping up online doesn’t look like much of a real reunion at all.
With the NBA season only a week old, injuries have already forced teams to think differently. Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Jaren Jackson Jr., Paolo Banchero, Tyrese Haliburton and others are all expected to miss time, and most clubs can probably afford to wait before making any drastic calls. Oklahoma City may be the exception.
Jalen Williams is expected to miss the rest of the season, and Cason Wallace could be headed for the same kind of absence. For a team with championship expectations, losing two key pieces from a deep rotation creates obvious problems.
Even so, a major move from Sam Presti is far from guaranteed. He has generally leaned cautious in-season, and the Thunder have often preferred patience over panic. But this is a bigger test than most, so the speculation has started.
That speculation got a boost from Brian Windhorst on a recent episode of The Hoop Collective. Windhorst didn’t say the Thunder were actively hunting the market, but he did say rival executives have a sense of the kind of move Oklahoma City might explore:
"And this is one thing that I've talked to executives about, and I don't mean to be cryptic, but I'm being cryptic," Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective. "If you're going to, if they're going to acquire a player, it would not be a surprise if they acquire a player they've already had."
That was enough to send Bulls fans down the Josh Giddey rabbit hole.
The name makes sense on the surface. Giddey was taken by Presti with the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and spent his first three full seasons in Oklahoma City before the Thunder sent him to Chicago for Alex Caruso.
Since arriving with the Bulls, Giddey has put together a strong 2025-26 season, posting career highs in almost every major statistical category. His three-point shooting and ability to attack the rim have both taken a clear step forward.
But a return to OKC still doesn’t feel like the right read.
Giddey’s fit next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was shaky before, and his development as an off-ball player, while real, hasn’t changed the basic equation much. He still looks like a player who needs to run the offense to be at his best.
There’s also the contract. Giddey is making $25.0 million per year for two more full seasons, and that matters here. Windhorst’s comment came in the context of Oklahoma City’s looming financial issues, which makes it hard to imagine the Thunder taking on that kind of long-term money unless they’re shedding a significant deal of their own.
So while the rumor has sparked plenty of noise, it doesn’t appear to mean much for Chicago. Giddey remains a major part of the Bulls’ rebuilding picture, and any change to that outlook this season feels highly unlikely.
In Other News...
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Mark Daigneault did not leave much mystery around who would be asked to carry the load, announcing the starting lineup shortly before tip-off as the Thunder settled in for a tougher-than-usual night. Ajay Mitchell adds one more piece of stability after being upgraded from questionable with an ankle sprain, but the bigger issue is how Oklahoma City holds up with so much of its usual rotation unavailable in a game that suddenly carries more weight. [Read more 🡒]
Shorthanded Thunder Face A Real Test Against Cooper Flagg's Mavericks
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Oklahoma City is still favored by 6.5 points, yet the availability report gives this one a different feel than a standard road test. Dallas also has its own uncertainty, and the matchup brings another layer of attention because of Cooper Flaggs Mavericks, with both sides trying to navigate the kind of early-season roster shuffling that can change the tenor of a game before it even starts. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Injuries Could Force Aday Mara Into A Bigger Role
The Thunder are already trying to absorb the early hit of losing Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, and the injuries could force the coaching staff to rethink how it spreads the offense. With two rotation pieces potentially out for a long stretch, Oklahoma City may need to find scoring and creation in places it did not plan on relying this heavily, which is where rookie Aday Mara starts to enter the conversation.
Mara has the kind of size and passing feel that can give a team a different look, even if his minutes have been limited so far. For a Thunder group navigating an unexpectedly thin roster, there is at least a path toward asking more of him on offense, but whether that becomes a real adjustment or just an idea for now is still to be determined. [Read more 🡒]