Circling like a vulture, the Oklahoma City Thunder have side-eyed the LA Clippers‘ slow start. The reigning NBA champion has bigger fish to fry. They hope to be a rare back-to-back winner. So far in the early stages of the season, they look every bit the part of a team that will repeat last year’s historic success.

And thanks to the historic 2019 Paul George trade, the Thunder could have another busy summer where they throw a championship parade one day and later in the same week, hit their draft homework hard with a high lottery pick.

The Clippers sit at 3-8 on the season. They’ve lost six in a row. An uninspiring start for a team hopeful to match at least last year’s success. But LA looks old and slow. All the depth they were praised for has looked like a bunch of guys on the verge of being out of the NBA for good.

Kawhi Leonard is set to miss time with an ankle and foot sprain. That shouldn’t be a surprise. At this point, missing a significant chunk of time is part of his deal. While James Harden can help offset some of that, he needs help. He’s not getting it so far. Ivica Zubac appears to have taken a step back.

And then there’s Bradley Beal. He was signed to a one-year deal after being bought out by the Phoenix Suns this past offseason. The hope was that a fresh start would do him some good. Instead, he’s been awful. And he won’t get a chance to course-correct.

After just six games, the Clippers announced Beal will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season. He will undergo season-ending hip surgery. Just awful luck for the 32-year-old. Part of LA’s plans was for him to be another go-to scorer that could complement Harden and Leonard. That’s gone in smoke, not even one month into the year.

If the Clippers can’t replace his production or replenish their depth, things could quickly spiral out of control. In comes the Thunder.

The Thunder have all three of their own, LA’s and Houston’s 2026 first-round picks, but will only land the two most favorable. At this point, it looks like they will likely get the chance to swap with the Clippers’ 2026 first-round pick. Sitting near the bottom of the standings, there’s a non-zero chance OKC could enter the NBA lottery rooting for LA.

If that happens, the Thunder could be gifted another high lottery pick. That’d be three straight years. The Houston Rockets gifted them the 2024 No. 12 pick for Nikola Topic and the Miami Heat gifted them the 2025 No. 15 pick for Thomas Sorber.

Of course, everybody knows what the Clippers have given the Thunder. They supplied them with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. Two All-NBA players who helped them win their first NBA championship. The George trade is already the NBA’s version of the Herschel Walker trade.

And if the Thunder are given another high lottery pick from that trade — let’s say, for somebody like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer — then the rest of the NBA will continue to pay for the sins that LA committed six years ago when it mortgaged its future for a risky Leonard-George duo that peaked at one Western Conference Finals appearance.