Grading Aaron Wiggins trade for Thunder, Hawks

On Sunday night, the NBA’s trading season officially began, with the Oklahoma City Thunder sending Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for two second-round picks. It has long been obvious that the Thunder would be shedding salary this offseason considering how expensive their luxury tax bill would be if they didn’t, and Wiggins became the first domino to fall.

Wiggins is a homegrown rotation player for the Thunder, a huge steal with the 55th overall selection of the 2021 NBA Draft. He played a role in OKC’s run to the championship in 2025, hitting a few huge shots and playing solid minutes for the team on the wing.

It may hurt some Thunder fans to see Wiggins go elsewhere, but this was an absolutely necessary move to protect the franchise’s long-term financial health.

With that said, here are grades for both teams as we try to assess both the long and short-term ramifications of this trade between the Thunder and Hawks.

Thunder take necessary first step in trimming luxury tax bill

Thunder acquire: 2030 ATL second-round pick, less favorable of 2032 ATL/LAL second-round pick

In a vacuum, one would think that the Thunder could have possibly gotten more assets in return for Wiggins. Wiggins’ contract is team-friendly, and down 2025-26 campaign aside, he has shown in the past that he can be an underrated contributor for an elite team. Paying a total of around $25 million for three years of Wiggins’ production is something many teams would sign up for.

However, the Thunder needed to be able to trade Wiggins away to a team that can absorb his contract without giving up a player in return. The Hawks fulfilled that condition thanks to the Luke Kennard trade exception they created back in February, and OKC, in turn, was able to drastically slash their luxury tax bill.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN pointed out, the Thunder were slated to pay a luxury tax bill of $213 million before dealing Wiggins to Atlanta. The trade shed $61 million off their tax bill, and they’re not done making moves quite yet.

It is a bit sad for Thunder fans who have supported their team through the trenches to see Wiggins go. Wiggins was a member of OKC’s original young core, and the team developed him into a solid rotation piece despite drafting him deep in the second round.

But the Thunder have so much depth that they can afford to lose Wiggins without having it make a dent on their rotation. He fell out of favor in the playoffs anyway, as he was only picking up garbage time minutes in the end.

This OKC team has outgrown Wiggins, and that is simply part of life as a contending team in the NBA.

Grade: A

Hawks improve on the margins

Hawks acquire: Aaron Wiggins

Wiggins is not a game-changer by any means. This was a man who averaged 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in 21.8 minutes per night across 65 games (21 starts). His shooting efficiency dropped this past season, going from 49/38/83 in 2024-25, to 43/46/74 last season.

There is a worrying trend with regards to Wiggins’ scoring efficiency. His true shooting percentage has been trending downwards over the past three seasons, and it’s not like he has taken a larger role on offense to explain that kind of drop-off.

Even then, the Hawks are making the wise decision to add Wiggins for cheap. It wasn’t that long ago when Wiggins was coming off the bench for the Thunder in their run to the title, hitting backbreaking threes against the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers.

Perhaps it is concerning to see Wiggins fall out of the OKC rotation in the playoffs. He did not play well, make no mistake about it, but the Thunder just have so much depth that they could afford to put him on the shelf.

For the Hawks, Wiggins should continue playing a 20 to 25 minute a night role coming off the bench. He is a 6’7″ positionally versatile wing who can hit open shots, and as Thunder fans would attest to, he did save basketball.

Atlanta is continuing with their roster-building ethos of assembling as many long-limbed, switchable wings who can shoot threes, and Wiggins helps them become even more resolute and matchup-proof moving forward.

The best part is that Wiggins’ contract is easy to take on and easy to unload if push comes to shove. He’ll be making a grand total of $25 million over the next three seasons, which could be a huge steal.

This is an easy win-win trade for the Thunder and Hawks, but Atlanta has to be very happy to get someone of Wiggins’ caliber with a team-friendly contract for the low price of two second-round picks.

Grade: A+

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