Unpacking Oklahoma City’s Recent Trade, Clearing Roster Spots Ahead Of 2023-24 Season

Entering training camp earlier this month, the Oklahoma City Thunder needed to reduce the size of its roster by three players. Ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, a group comprised of a maximum of 15 players on full-time contracts would need to be finalized, but 18 players met that criteria.

While the most common way to cut down a roster during camp is to waive players outright, Thunder GM Sam Presti always looks to get creative in order to maximize assets.

On Tuesday — with less than a week to finalize the final 15-man roster — Presti did just that. Two of the players that were projected to be waived were traded away as Oklahoma City added even more draft capital.

As first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Houston Rockets traded Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2027 second-round pick and the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2028 second-round pick to the Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Oklahoma City also took on the contract of Kevin Porter Jr., who was waived immediately. The Thunder will pay the $16.9M guaranteed left on his contract, so it was essentially swapping two players that were likely going to be waived for two second-round picks.

Bigger picture, the Thunder acquired a total of four second rounders for taking on and then moving Oladipo, who was a salary dump from the Miami Heat earlier in the offseason. Overall, OKC now has 15 first-round and 22 second-round picks over the next seven years.

Sometime in the next week, one more trade or cut will need to be made. While the most likely scenario is that Jack White — who is on a lightly guaranteed deal — is waived, don’t be shocked if a player like Davis Bertans or Tre Mann is traded away to clear that final spot while the Thunder is once again compensated with future draft capital.

Presti views everything as an asset that can be maximized. Whether it’s cap space, players, roster spots or contracts, he looks to get the most out of the value of these assets. Once again, with Tuesday’s transaction, he’s proven to be willing to get creative to make that happen.

This OKC team is really on the cusp of making noise in the Western Conference. Despite being one of the youngest teams in the league, it’s among the most talented and competitive of any. Not only could the Thunder emerge as a playoff team in the 2023-24 campaign, but it’s also set up for sustained success.

The best teams need levers to pull in order to improve and re-tool as they adapt to their competition. As time goes on, Oklahoma City has the draft capital to not only add quality talent in the draft to elongate the success, but also make big moves. Whether it’s for a star-level player or for more of a fringe piece, the draft picks are there.

Especially with the new CBA and how teams can leverage players selected in the second-round, those picks are still very valuable. Furthermore, the recent trade deadline saw several needle-moving players be dealt for packages headlined by several second-round picks. While the move OKC made on Tuesday seems small, it could really pay off longer term.