Thunder Land Center in Blockbuster Trade with Pelicans

The Oklahoma City Thunder have entered their names in the trade mix as we approach the highly anticipated NBA trade deadline on Thursday.

The Thunder have added to their frontcourt depth, trading for New Orleans Pelicans big man Daniel Theis.

ESPN's Shams Charania shared the news via X.

Theis will head from one of the worst teams in the league to arguably the best.

According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, New Orleans was $1.4 million above the luxury tax before the trade; they're now below it as Theis is on an expiring $2.1 million deal.

The specifics of the deal have yet to be announced.

This move does wonders for the Pelicans as they have essentially saved money by moving on from Theis.

The 32-year-old German has been limited for the Pelicans this season. In 38 games, he is averaging 4.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 0.5 blocks while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 83.8 percent from the charity stripe in 16.3 minutes of action.

This cost-cutting move by the Pelicans makes sense, as they have fallen out of the playoff picture due to constant injuries to all of the top players throughout the year.

It is clear that they will not do anything this year, so this could be the first of many trades that the Pelicans could be involved in from now till the deadline on Thursday.

New Orleans entered the season with high hopes, especially after acquiring Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks this past summer. However, injuries to their top players, including Murray, who is out for the rest of the season due to an Achilles injury, have derailed the 2024-25 season.

Theis will join his seventh NBA team after starting his career in the association in 2017 with the Boston Celtics. He signed with Boston as a free agent prior to the 2017-18 season and spent the first four seasons of his career in Beantown.

After that, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls before being involved in the sign-and-trade with the Houston Rockets prior to the 2021-22 season.

He returned to Boston for the second half of the 2022 season before he joined the Indian Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Pelicans before the trade on Wednesday.

In his career, he has scored 7.1 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. He is also a career 53.7 percent field-goal shooter and 72.6 percent from the charity stripe.

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