Maybe the timing of Chet Holmgren’s return to the Oklahoma City Thunder lineup, on the morning of NBA trade deadline day, was coincidental. Maybe it wasn’t.

There's no such thing as the perfect NBA squad. There are always areas to improve upon. With that in mind, here are nine backup players the Thunder could target by the Feb. 6 deadline:

The NBA trade deadline is, for most teams, an exercise in resource-management. Take the Phoenix Suns. They are so desperate for the flexibility to make moves that they just traded one great first-round pick for three bad ones.