Dead money to assets
From a basketball standpoint, pundits question whether Schroder and TLC are assets. The German requested a trade from Atlanta three months ago and the Hawks failed to find a market. This is due to his off-court indiscretions rather than his play on-court but the market simply wasn’t there. TLC was a sporadic role player in Philadelphia, stuck behind a deep roster filled with quality wings. His value needs to be built so one could argue he isn’t an asset right now.
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However, the Thunder avoided dead money and acquired two players with potential. If both improve and perform well this season, their trade value increases making him a movable asset. A classic case of asset use lies in the recent DeMar Derozan – Kawhi Leonard trade. Despite Derozan’s undeniable loyalty to the Toronto Raptors, he is an asset that could be moved to better the team.
While it cost the Thunder a 2022 protected first-round pick, Presti understood avoiding such a large amount of dead money was significant moving forward since it would’ve bound OKC to luxury tax hell. Acquiring players instead is a gamble but at least there is a possibility of moving them for something else.
Additionally, the Thunder also created a $10.9 million trade exception (TE). Oklahoma City sent out more salary than they received thus the TE can be used to absorb a deal down the track. OKC could pair this exception with Kyle SIngler and receive a player whose salary is no more than $10.9 million (approximately).
TE can only be used for single player trades only, though additional cash and draft picks can be part of the trade.