OKC Thunder: How the 16th pick in the 1989 draft turned into Dennis Schroder
The biggest trade since Paul George.
Sam Presti has a reputation for making the left-field trade. He was able to leverage Paul George from the Indiana Pacers. George made it clear he was not going to sign another contract with Indiana, basically demanding a trade without saying it.
George being with the team had to part of the decision-making process where Anthony waived his no-trade clause with the New York Knicks. He added the OKC Thunder to his list of potential destinations as the team looked strong with superstars George and Russell Westbrook.
Related Story. Re-grading the Paul George trade - one season later. light
However, in order to get a generational talent like Anthony, Presti needed to offer enough trade bait to land him. Presti was able to get the deal done by sending Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 second-round pick to the Knicks.
This is where we can now look at the pieces moved previously which allowed the trade for Anthony which allowed the OKC Thunder to net Schroder. First, we look at the history behind the McDermott trade.
On February 23rd, 2017 the OKC Thunder traded Joffrey Lauvergne, Anthony Morrow, and Cameron Payne to Chicago for Taj Gibson, McDermott, and the same pick used in the Anthony trade. So, how much did this truly cost the Thunder?
The answer is not much. The Thunder traded two second-round draft picks for Lauvergne, signed Morrow in free agency in 2014, and drafted Payne in 2015. None of these players were producing, so there was genius to this move.