Consolidation Trade Coming Soon for Oklahoma City Thunder?
Oklahoma City’s roster looks very different heading into training camp after a plethora of moves on the trade market has resulted in 21 standard contracts. That’s six more than NBA teams are allowed to have.
The Thunder will have until the beginning of the regular season to sort out exactly how they will navigate a path towards shedding six contracts, whether via trade, waive, or a buy-out negotiation.
A deeper analysis of the contracts that the front office has taken on this off-season reveals a diversified portfolio of expiring deals, pseudo-expiring deals, and rookie contracts. The Thunder also have a ton of draft capital as well: a total of 35 draft picks spread out across the next seven years.
Right now, the Thunder are perfectly positioned to offer an interesting mix of young players, expiring contracts, and a seemingly unlimited amount of draft picks, in exchange for whatever player the front office might be interested in adding to the young corps in Oklahoma City. And such a portfolio would allow them to do so without touching their more premium assets.
The logic is simple: if the Thunder are to whittle down the roster from 21 to 16, a consolidation trade is the easiest route. The front office can dole out multiple contracts while bringing just one back.
So, what exactly could the Thunder offer?
Well, for starters, Davis Bertans is set to make $17M this season, but has an early termination option in 2024-25 where he’s only guaranteed $5M provided that he plays in at least 75 percent of regular season games in the upcoming year. And then there is Victor Oladipo and Rudy Gay who are set to make a combined $15.9M next season before entering unrestricted free agency next off-season.
Altogether, Bertans, Oladipo, and Gay’s contracts equal $32.9M in salary-matching power that they can use this summer to go out and bring in another big contract.
The Thunder could also add in a mix of sweeteners in such a deal that could involve a mix of young players they could be ready to move on. Tre Mann, TyTy Washington, Usman Garuba, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, etc. come to mind.
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