Thunder trade Aaron Wiggins to Hawks ahead of NBA Draft

Contending for a championship exacts a heavy price, and it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder’s turn to pay that exorbitant cost. On Sunday, two days before the 2026 NBA Draft, the Thunder pulled the trigger on a trade that would send Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks, as per Shams Charania of ESPN.

The Hawks sent two second-round picks to the Thunder to complete the deal; they traded away their own second-rounder in 2030 along with the less favorable of theirs or the Los Angeles Lakers’ second-round pick in 2032 to OKC. Atlanta had been building a positionally versatile roster that’s currently on the rise, and Wiggins should come in as a featured member of their rotation.

As for the Thunder, this is nothing more than a cost-cutting move. If they had a choice, one would think that they would keep Wiggins, someone who played rotation minutes for them on their way to the title in 2025.

But with Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams’ max contracts set to kick in at the start of next season, this kind of salary-shedding maneuver was inevitable from OKC’s part. Wiggins has three more years left on his deal worth $9.02 million, $8.2 million, and $8.2 million, respectively.

Before making the Wiggins trade, the Thunder already had active cap obligations worth $249 million. The second apron is projected to be at around $222 million, so OKC has its work cut out for them to get under that threshold.

Wiggins is a major success story for the Thunder’s developmental team, helping mold the 55th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft into a solid two-way wing. His best season thus far came during the 2024-25 campaign, when he averaged 12.0 points on 49/38/83 shooting splits while playing nearly 23 minutes a night.

The 27-year-old forward, however, lost his spot in the rotation in the 2026 NBA playoffs, barely playing any minutes that mattered for the Thunder. This has, perhaps, led to OKC’s decision to deem him one of the most expendable guys from the roster.

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