Breaking: OKC Thunder Trades Victor Oladipo, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl For Kevin Porter Jr.
The Oklahoma City Thunder entered training camp with 21 players on the roster, including three spots taken up by two-way contracts. This meant the Thunder was eventually going to have to move three players, but they gave them a fair chance to show their capabilities in preseason.
To open the season, Sam Presti mentioned how he had to "make a decision" on Victor Oladipo's contract, too, as Oladipo is injured.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder has begun making moves. The team is trading Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl for Kevin Porter Jr. and two future second-round picks while waiving Porter Jr. immediately.
With Oladipo's injury and the Thunder's depth of guard play, it didn't seem like he was going to stick around. Again, in Presti's presser to start the season, he had mentioned the team had to figure out what to do with the contract, and using it to get two second-round picks was the move.
For the Rockets, they attached two second-round picks on Porter Jr.'s contract to get him moved after his recent legal issues involving his girlfriend. The Thunder made a similar move when acquiring Meyers Leonard after his streaming incident, which they acquired picks to do. The Thunder will have to pay Porter Jr.'s $16.9 million contract for the season.
The Rockets also received a young talent in Robinson-Earl, who now gets another opportunity on a roster, and he will be in another place full of young talent mixed with some veterans as he continues to develop.
The Thunder now has a total of 37 picks -- 15 first-rounders and 22 second-rounders. The stockpile continues as the Thunder acquired two second-rounders in the deal -- a 2027 second-rounder via the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 2028 second-rounder via the Milwaukee Bucks. This trade, for the Thunder, was primarily about buying draft picks while simultaneously taking care of the roster crunch.
Now, the Thunder has to move one more player before the start of the regular season.
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