OKC Thunder: 3 players that should be traded following the team's first-round playoff exit
The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the 2019 postseason with the confidence that they could compete. Following a difficult period after the All-Star break, Billy Donovan's men had won their final five games of the season, and the team was handed a favorable pathway to the Western Conference Finals.
They avoided early matchups against Houston and Golden State, and the Blazers were a team that OKC had swept during the regular season.
Nevertheless, due to the individual brilliance of Damian Lillard, the Thunder once again fell at the first hurdle. Despite the presence of both Paul George and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder have now failed to win a playoff series since 2016, and it is evident that the current roster is not good enough to compete for a championship.
General manager Sam Presti is likely to recognize this fact himself, and there may be major changes to the roster over the next few months. So, ahead of a potentially busy summer, here are three players that OKC should trade away.
#3 Patrick Patterson
Patrick Patterson enjoyed a reasonably successful first season in Oklahoma City -- although his 18/19 campaign was one to forget. The 30-year-old averaged 3.6 points in 63 games this season, although he barely featured after the team added Markieff Morris towards the end of the season.
Despite his lack of playtime, Patterson recently spoke about his happiness in Oklahoma City, and it is extremely unlikely that he will opt out of his $5.7 million player option for the 19/20 season.
Morris is also likely to exit this summer, however, it still seems doubtful that Patterson will get good minutes ahead of Jerami Grant and Andre Roberson. This means that the Thunder will continue to get little input from the money they are paying Patterson, and trading away the veteran looks like an easy decision.