As the Oklahoma City Thunder advance deeper and deeper into the new financial era of the organization, each and every decision will take on a magnified importance—especially those involving their young assets.
Just within the past couple of weeks, the Thunder have picked up Thomas Sorber's third-year option, declined Nikola Topic's fourth-year option, and added Nique Clifford (whose third-year option has already been picked up) in a trade with the Sacramento Kings. Let's not forget that Dalen Terry signed a two-year deal somewhere in there as well before he was let go as a result of the Clifford trade.
Taken on their own, the first two decisions make perfect sense. In all likelihood, Oklahoma City needs to prepare for the departure of Isaiah Hartenstein, who's in his first season of a three-year, $25 million extension. Keeping Sorber on, despite having yet to make his NBA debut, is logical in that light. Declining Topic's option, while unfortunate, is also logical. As long as the Thunder are able to keep Ajay Mitchell in the fold long-term, they have enough depth there to play their options carefully. Allowing Topic to walk this offseason would save them $7.5 million against the cap and a whole lot more when it comes to the luxury tax.
But if the goal is to not take on salary beyond this year, even on rookie-scale contracts, why make the deal for Clifford?
The answer to that is more complicated—the Thunder needed bodies on the wing even before Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace went down, and keeping Topic off the books next season, for now, allows them to evaluate the roster before committing to potentially unnecessary backcourt help.
Nique Clifford is the right fit for the Thunder—even without the injuries they've suffered this season
It will obviously be an unfortunate outcome if Topic is ultimately gone. He has the potential to be the best pure playmaker in the Thunder's rotation, and he's shown that with abundance during his stints in the G-League to this point in his injury-shortened career.
But if the Thunder's plan is to move off of Hartenstein, likely enabling them to keep both Mitchell and Alex Caruso in the fold in the backcourt, then Topic is a luxury they can't afford at this point. Bennett Stirtz is also a factor there, depending on whether Oklahoma City wants to direct his development in an on-ball or off-ball capacity.
The wing, though, is an object of concern for the Thunder.
Williams has obviously had to deal with a number of injuries over the past two seasons, and that puts a cap on Oklahoma City's depth at the position from the jump. But the organization was also forced to move off of Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins this offseason as Williams' and Chet Holmgren's extensions kicked in. That left the Thunder with some pretty thin backup options behind J-Dub.
Kenrich Williams can still make an impact on a night-to-night basis with his physicality and 3-point shooting, but he's not the type of complementary offensive player you want to depend on heavily in a playoff setting. Jared McCain, meanwhile, can play the wing in a floor-spacing sense, but his lack of pure physicality and point-of-attack defensive ability often leaves him better suited as a pure two-guard depending on the situation.
Clifford, though, has the potential to fill that role perfectly. At 6'5", Clifford has the frame to play a traditional wing role, and his consistent shooting and self-creation at the college level leave plenty of room to theorize his upside as a bench scorer. It's quite possible that Oklahoma City, with a 15th open roster spot, would've been willing to make this move even if Williams and Wallace didn't go down.
Is it a vacancy that would've needed to be addressed immediately? No—the Thunder likely could've bided their time and gotten the wing of their choice in the 2027 NBA Draft. But as they sort out the future of the depth of this roster, having Clifford in place, and leaving the team with the clear flexibility to allow Topic to walk this offseason, shows where their priorities ultimately lie.
It's too soon to make any truly sweeping claims, but it seems like Oklahoma City feels the backcourt will be fine for the foreseeable future. Whether Clifford stays on or not through this offseason will tell the rest of the story.
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