OKC Thunder: Grading Theo Maledon’s tremendous rookie season

OKC Thunder contract and season grades for Theo Maledon

Contract grade: A+

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Maledon just completed the first season of his four-year, $7.8 million deal. Worth just over two million this season, his contract can only be seen as a bargain. With his levels of production and the exponential growth, Maledon more than earned his $2 million for the season.

With the franchise rebuilding, Maledon only has $3.9 million guaranteed over the next two seasons. His fourth season is a team option that is worth just $1.9 million. Given that the Thunder need a large amount of cap space for their rebuild and Maledon is a low-cost, high reward piece for the future.

Season grade: B+

Maledon did what every rookie needs to in their first season, he developed. That is all you should ask of a player in their rookie year. He went from a deep bench piece to a key starter on the team before the All-Star break. Yes, the Thunder lost more than it won after this, but a lot of the team’s key pieces were missing.

Throughout the season Maledon has shown that he is going to have a future with the team. This is what the Thunder’s season has been about and Maledon has been one of the success stories.