Thus far into the offseason, the OKC Thunder have focused their attention on retaining the vast majority of the roster that just won them their first title in franchise history.
From locking down key role players like Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell to incredibly cost-efficient contracts to shelling out max extensions to their core trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, Sam Presti and company have used virtually all their brain power to run their squad back almost exactly as it was in 2024-25.
The only notable difference is that Oklahoma City essentially swapped Dillon Jones' spot on the roster for rookie big man Thomas Sorber.
However, now at the tail end of August and with training camps just over a month away, the Thunder find themselves in a position where they could make their first outsourced addition of the summer, as they are one of only a handful of teams capable of outbidding the Detroit Pistons for their stud free agent wing Malik Beasley.
Thunder one of select few clubs that could pry Malik Beasley from Pistons
Since it was revealed last week that he was no longer a target of a widespread federal gambling investigation, one that made him the leper of the league early on in free agency, a ton of teams have come out of the woodwork showing interest in Beasley's services.
Considering the career year he just had out in Motor City, where he averaged 16.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on 41.6 percent shooting from deep while finishing second in the running for Sixth Man of the Year, it should come as no surprise that the vindicated veteran's talents are being hotly pursued.
However, though intrigue may be high, the number of ball clubs that could actually shell out a more lucrative offer than Detroit's $7.2 million deal is rather small.
Recently, NBA insider Keith Smith revealed that just eight teams currently have the cap space to do so, with the Thunder, even after committing to north of $800 million in new, standard contracts this offseason, being one of them.
For OKC, if they were at all interested in adding him to their collection, outside of finding available minutes at their already stacked shooting guard spot, the biggest hurdle to signing the 28-year-old would be the fact that they literally have zero space to bring him aboard, as Sorber's signing of his rookie-scale contract back in early July locked in their 15 and final member of the roster.
Of course, the idea of offloading Ousmane Dieng in a salary dump deal to acquire another player has been proposed in the past. Should they truly covet him, perhaps Beasley could be worth making such a move for as well.