OKC Thunder trade is a massive front office win for Sam Presti
Luxury tax savings
The trade saved OKC approximately $73 million in luxury tax and salary while receiving two assets in return.
Oklahoma City was able to accomplish two things by trading Carmelo Anthony to Atlanta, improve the roster while saving $73M this season. The Thunder will now see their projected luxury tax bill drop from $150M to $88.8M, a savings of $62M. In addition,... https://t.co/dcp1nQxadt
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 19, 2018
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While Presti could’ve saved $107 million this season through a Melo buy-out, the Thunder still needed to fill out its roster with minimum contracts. By paying Schroder and TLC now and adding an extra $7 million is minimal considering OKC would need to sign four or five more players to the roster. Acquiring Schroder and TLC allows Presti the opportunity to manipulate the books.
Final Take
This deal is an absolute steal for Oklahoma City. Sure, there are problems that need to be ironed out off-court for Schroder but he holds great value on court. Additionally, the Thunder were able to garner some form of flexibility moving forward and avoiding the use of stretch provision was key.Despite acquiring slightly more salary over the next three seasons, the money is active or invested in assets.
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Like Presti said before the start of free agency, scared money dont make none. Dead money don’t make none either.
This is a win-win for OKC.