Thunder acquires KZ Okpala from Heat, renegotiates future first-round pick

The Thunder and Heat made a trade on Wednesday that was less about the player involved, and more about renegotiating the terms of a previously traded first-round draft pick. 

The Thunder sent a 2026 second-round pick to the Heat for third-year forward KZ Okpala. But Okpala wasn't the Thunder's primary target, and the second-round pick wasn't a game changer for the Heat. 

The Thunder might not even keep Okpala, who's been sidelined with a wrist injury and is on the final year of his rookie contract. 

"We're gonna let the dust settle," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Wednesday when asked if the team plans to keep Okpala. "After the deadline we'll have a much better idea on any stuff like that. Obviously, things are fluid this time of year." 

The motivation for making the trade was in the details, and it was mutually beneficial. 

The Heat already owed the Thunder a lottery-protected draft pick in 2023, which was set to stay under the same lottery protections through 2025 before becoming unprotected in 2026. 

For taking on Okpala’s contract, which creates a roster spot for Miami, OKC haggled for two years of protection to be removed from that 2023 pick. 

The pick is now lottery-protected for 2025 only, before becoming unprotected — as previously agreed to — in 2026. 

So what does it all mean?

In short, the Thunder increased the likelihood that the pick will become unprotected in 2026. The odds of the Heat, a well-run franchise in a destination market, being bad for three straight seasons (2023-25) are slim. 

The pick was almost certainly going to convey as a mid-to-late first rounder for the Thunder as soon as next summer. Now, the Thunder just needs the Heat to miss the playoffs for one season (2025), and not three, for the pick to become unprotected in 2026.  

Unprotected first-round picks are extremely valuable, and the Thunder could turn around and flip that pick well before 2026.

The trade also helped the Heat, which now has the flexibility to trade future first-round picks that were previously held up by protections. 

In a related move, the Thunder released center Mamadi Diakite, who was on his third 10-day contract with the Thunder. Diakite made three starts in 13 games. He averaged 4.3 points and 4.5 rebounds. 

"He was really functional for a guy we just threw in there," Daigneault said. 

Okpala, a 22-year-old forward, is a Southern California native who played two seasons at Stanford. He was drafted 32nd overall in 2019. 

In 63 career games (nine starts), Okpala has averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds. He’s shot 41% from the field, including 27% from 3-point range. 

The NBA trade deadline is 2 p.m. Thursday.