Busy Week Shows OKC Thunder Are Already Thinking About the NBA Trade Deadline

Just a few weeks ago, it seemed as though the Oklahoma City Thunder would forgo extensions with their three eligible players—Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson—as part of a plan to position themselves as a free-agent player in 2017.

By late Monday evening, Adams and Oladipo had agreed to long-term deals through the 2020-21 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of The Vertical, respectively. Less than 24 hours later, the Thunder traded forward Ersan Ilyasova to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jerami Grant, as Wojnarowski first reported.

What changed?

This spree gives clues as to what the Thunder will do going forward.

In early October, I wrote about a conceivable path for Oklahoma City to create maximum salary-cap space next summer. Under current salary-cap rules, the Thunder could have leveraged relatively low cap holds on their trio, offloaded other salary onto another under-the-cap team and potentially carved out at least $30 million in space. They could have then re-signed their players as restricted free agents once they netted a free-agent prize.

The concern was that rule changes in the forthcoming collective bargaining agreement could waylay this plan. As Bobby Marks of The Vertical explained, that will apparently happen:

The new formula would have slapped more than $8 million in additional cap holds onto the Thunder's salary calculations, nixing the space needed to make a major free-agency push.

With that strategy effectively destroyed, general manager Sam Presti instead pivoted to locking up his players while the opportunity was there. It wasn't a radical course correction, but rather a return to the status quo.

"I think obviously in today's NBA with so many uncertainties and so many things that are outside your control, having young, developing or emerging players that you can have the opportunity to extend or match given their contracts, I think that's always important," Presti explained in his season-opening news conference.

Oklahoma City may have secured its players at a discount. ESPN's Zach Lowe reported in July that Oladipo was seeking a maximum salary. In the end, his four-year, $84 million extension comes in about $21 million under the max, per ESPN.com's Royce Young:

Oladipo's deal is in line with comparable players who recently signed contracts.

Portland's C.J. McCollum, the 10th pick of the 2013 draft, signed an extension in July that could be worth as much as $106 million over four years. Teammate Allen Crabbe snagged a four-year, $75 million deal. Promising but oft-injured Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal landed a five-year, $128 million contract.

Given time in the Thunder system under coach Billy Donovan, Oladipo has the potential to turn his contract into a value. Presti gushed after acquiring him, along with Domantas Sabonis and Ilyasova, on draft night in exchange for Serge Ibaka.

"Everyone's looking for high-character, competitive, team-first guys that are also really good players," Presti said. "You know, he's on a short list. Then when those guys are coming around to you, it's a rare opportunity."

Alonzo Adams/Associated Press

Adams' $100 million extension was roughly $6 million less than the maximum salary for which he was eligible under the current CBA. That's the kind of sacrifice Presti has asked players to make over the years to stay together. It's a formula that has worked well for the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat.

Saving a few extra million per season gives the Thunder flexibility down the road. Presti will be mindful of the luxury tax, but not because Thunder ownership is reluctant to pay it.

Like every other NBA team, the Thunder should want no part of the repeater tax penalty. Under current rules, if a team pays the luxury tax in three seasons over a four-year span, the already harsh penalties become even more punitive.

Today's roster likely won't look the same after the trade deadline. With Adams and Oladipo locked in, Presti can now seek other transactions to adjust and rebalance his roster, such as the Ilyasova-for-Grant swap.

While Grant is better suited to playing power forward than small forward due to a lack of shooting range—he shot just 24.0 percent from deep last season—the third-year man is 6'8", getting paid just over $1 million this year and next and is built to run. He'll add a much-needed dose of wing athleticism, assuming he's playing small forward rather than getting lost in the Thunder's logjam up front (like he did in Philly). 

He blocks shots, too—he's averaged 1.4 rejections per game in his career despite only playing an average of 24.2 minutes per night—which is something the Thunder sought. 

Ideally, Oklahoma City would keep looking for another two-way option to knock down three-pointers—just like everyone else around the league. But if such players become available, Oklahoma City does have intriguing assets to offer.

Enes Kanter's four-year, $70 million contract was the subject of much internet snark last season. Admittedly, the first year of the deal was difficult to swallow. Now that the salary cap has spiked and will continue to rise, however, his contract is more valuable. Despite flaws in his defense and passing game, Kanter is a fantastic scorer and elite rebounder. He's averaging 12.3 points in less than 20 minutes per game this season and led the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage a season ago.

Second-year guard Cameron Payne, who showed promise as a shooter and floor leader last season, may become expendable once he is fully healthy. He could conceivably follow the same bench-to-starter path paved by former Thunder guards James Harden and Reggie Jackson. His rookie-scale contract would be attractive to teams seeking a young offensive creator.

Like Ilyasova ($8.4 million), Anthony Morrow ($3.5 million) will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Since Morrow, like Ilyasova, offers skills that are in demand with no future contractual obligations, it might soon be his turn as a trade throw-in to satisfy salary-matching rules.

Even Roberson—an emerging defensive star who did not agree to an extension—could become trade bait. Though the Thunder could wait and allow restricted free agency to play out next summer, Presti has a history of being proactive.

Presti traded Jeff Greenbefore he reached restricted free agency. He likewise shipped out Harden and Jackson after extension negotiations failed, though for different and more complex reasons. More recently, Ibaka's impending unrestricted free agency was a factor in the decision to trade him, according to former Oklahoman writer Anthony Slater.

J Pat Carter/Getty Images

The Thunder are now effectively out of next summer's free-agency bonanza, short of a creative sign-and-trade or radical gutting of the roster. That suits Presti and Co. just fine. The "Thunder Way" has always been to build and develop from within. 

That model is what made the Thunder a Western Conference power for several years. Convincing premier outside free agents to come to a small market like Oklahoma City is a daunting challenge. The Presti regime will continue to rely heavily on the draft and trades to build and sustain the roster. While many teams spend freely in July, the Thunder tend to write their biggest checks in late October.

THUNDER INSIDER'S NOTES

Young Insurance Options

The Thunder picked up player options on Payne and forward Josh Huestis last week. Both are now under contract through at least 2017-18.

Huestis is in his second NBA season and has played only five regular-season games, but the Thunder front office doesn't appear ready to consider him a sunk cost. Huestis flashed potential as a rugged defender who can play both forward spots in the preseason. If the Thunder decide to move on from Roberson at some point, Huestis is their insurance policy.

Draft-Pick Shuffling

Oklahoma City owes a conditional first-round pick to Utah in 2018 as final payment for the Kanter trade. That could hinder the Thunder in trade talks.

The league's so-called Stepien Rule prohibits teams from going two future consecutive seasons without a first-round pick. As of now, the earliest first-rounder the Thunder can trade is in 2020, which is what it sent to Philly (top-20 protected) in the Grant deal.

If Oklahoma City acquires another 2018 selection, it would open up its 2017-first rounder to a trade. That's easier said than done, though, as first-round picks are highly coveted across the league given their below-market cost and the degree of control teams have over them.

Trade Machine Omissions 

Not that the Thunder would actively look to trade either Adams or Oladipo, but both are incredibly difficult to move until July 1, 2017, thanks to a "Poison Pill" provision for each of their extensions.

Essentially, the NBA didn't want teams to extend rookie contracts just for the sake of trading them. So between now and the date the extension takes effect, the outgoing and incoming salary values are imbalanced.

Thunder fans who love spending hours playing with ESPN's NBA Trade Machine can save time by not including either player until next July.

All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Stats accurate as of October 31.