Presti shopping draft pick raise myriad of OKC Thunder roster and salary questions

Tamberlyn Richardson

Sam Presti, Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Shams Charania article raises questions over OKC Thunder looking to move 21st draft pick and reduce their salary for the 2019-20 season.

A simple two sentence paragraph by NBA scribe Shams Charania has OKC Thunder fans wondering precisely what General Manager Sam Presti is up to this offseason.

Fans of the NBA who like to get their information quickly likely have Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania on their short list of Twitter notifications since they are the duo most likely to break news. As such, Charania’s recent paid for subscription The Athletic article can’t be taken with a grain of salt.

The article in question is a preface on NBA news from teams as they prepare for the draft and free agency. Charania updates on almost half the Association’s teams with comments on draft picks, coaching moves and the status of free agents. His excerpt on the Thunder suggested OKC Thunder General Manager Sam Presti is aggressively shopping the 21st pick with a view to “reduce salary and relieve financial pressure. ”

This raises a myriad of questions for the Thunder fanbase. As I said, you can’t just take this as a throwaway comment, if Charania is reporting multiple calls have been made – then they have. Rather, it’s digging deeper into the semantics of why Presti would be doing this and what other aspects tie to this move.

With that lets dive into the what this could mean for the OKC Thunder by digging into each of the questions which arise from this article.

Starting Five:

First of all, it makes perfect sense why the Thunder want to reduce their overall salary threshold. If for example, the OKC Thunder were to start the same five players next season as they did in this campaign that amounts to $109,176,728.00 alone. As per Spotrac, these five players are contracted to earn:

Russell Westbrook: $38,506,482
Paul George: $33,005,556
Steven Adams: $25,842,697
Jerami Grant: $9,346,153
Terrance Ferguson: $2,475,840

Looking at the remainder of the roster here is where the rest of the player contracts currently sit:

Likely exiting:

The player holding a player option is Nerlens Noel who is expected to opt out while Markieff Morris finished his contract this season making him a free agent. Both are likely to find residence elsewhere. (their potential salaries, therefore, won’t be added to the total for the purpose of this exercise):

Noel: $1,988,119.00
Morris: free agent (unknown)

Young assets:

Abdel Nader: $1,618,520.00 (non-guaranteed)
Deonte Burton $1,416,852.00 (team option)
Hamidou Diallo $1,416,852.00 (second year of rookie contract)

Others:

Patrick Patterson (opted in): $5,711,200.00
Andre Roberson: $10,740,740.00
Dennis Schroder: $15,500,000.00

Unfurling the salaries to see where opportunities exist:

Every team in the Association must have 14 players on their active roster. By those terms, the OKC Thunder currently have 11 players allocated (and this includes the trio of youngsters where Presti has flexibility). Those 11 players equate to $145,580,892.00.

Plus let’s not forget OKC are still committed to paying out Kyle Singler having stretched his salary through to the 2022-2023 season to the tune of $999,200.00 per year. And, what about the rookies Devon Hall and Kevin Hervey drafted last season or two-way contractees, Donte Grantham and Jawun Evans? What precisely are Sam Presti’s plans for these four youngsters?

To put into perspective what the numbers mean the projected salary cap for the 2019-20 season is $109 million which means replicating this campaign’s starting five has already eaten up the Thunder cap. As for the luxury tax, it is assumed to be $132 million next season. Again, this means the 11 players OKC is committed to already put the Thunder over the luxury tax level. More concerning is the NBA punishes repeat offenders (or teams who consistently surpass the luxury tax level).

What each grouping tells us:

Based on the above salary specifics they break into three major categories. The starting five, the young trio and the others.

Starters:

Whether Billy Donovan runs out the same starting five or not won’t be known until season start. The key takeaway here is when the OKC Thunder got Paul George to re-sign with the team it was with the view of competing for a title during his and Westbrook’s prime – which is right now! This means they sold George on having a competitive roster. So, how likely is Presti to start dismantling the top talent on the team?

More from Thunderous Intentions

That said, the one player in this grouping who most pundits cite as being a potential trade option is Steven Adams. Certainly, his $25 million plus salary would offer options, but Presti would have to take back equivalent salaries via players who could help his team.

While the NBA is moving to utilize more mobile big men with range, Adams is more of a throwback – granted a great specimen of that style though. Adding further dilemma to this equation is the Thunder are likely to lose Nerlens Noel in free agency since they won’t be able to field a competitive offer to keep him in OKC. So, trading Adams would virtually deplete the entire center position in OKC which isn’t an ideal proposition.

Straddling the two sides of this argument is whether Presti can rationalize losing their lock down big man defender. After witnessing the postseason there is also a solid argument to keep Adams as players like Marc Gasol, Nikola Jokic, DeMarcus Cousins and others are proving. Sure, Adams doesn’t possess that trio’s passing ability or scoring prowess but he’s still under 26 years old.

Adams is locked in for two more seasons. The main question becomes do you ride out two more expensive contracted seasons with the belief Adams will continue to add components to his toolbox. Or do you trade him now before he reaches his potential to a team who unlike Donovan will employ him more as a passer in the paint?

Finally, at season end Donovan capitalized on Jerami Grant’s athleticism electing to sometimes use him at the five. This works in a small ball lineup – but it might be a dangerous proposition to remove the most feared center in the NBA altogether.

Young Assets:

This trio all have different caveats attached to their contracts. Nader’s contract is non-guaranteed which means the Thunder could get out of it. Likewise, the team can opt out of Burton’s contract.

Presumably, this trio isn’t going anywhere, however, because the Thunder will be seeking to fill up their roster spots with economical contracts and dollar for value production. Finding three players who could produce at a league level for just under $4.5 million ($4,452,224.00) is imperceivable.

Others:

This trio of “others’ equates to the secondary expenditures above the starting five and includes Roberson who hasn’t played organized ball in over 15 months. So ask yourself – how likely are teams to be open to taking on a contract of over $10 million dollars not knowing Roberson’s status? Even if teams assume ARob will return at 100 percent how many teams have the room to spend that type of money for a defensive specialist?

If we take the position the starting five remains intact (and keep Steven Adams) the only other contracts Presti could use to cut salary would be Schroder and Patterson. Of those two players Patterson isn’t going to make much of dent and at this point with Noel likely leaving Presti may want to try using Patterson next season at the five sometimes to get him serviceable minutes on the floor.

Only James Harden, Reggie Jackson, and Eric Maynor truly ever lived up to the backup point guard needs of the Thunder. The question is whether Presti would send out Schroder now, knowing how vital the need is for a playmaker to run the reserves. And, Schroder was often the tertiary scorer behind George and Westbrook.

What is Presti’s real plan?

The inference here is that Presti is trying to move the 21st pick along with another salary(ies). The issue is this draft class isn’t very deep so it’s not like Presti’s peers are lining up to grab the 21st pick or their assets for that matter.