Saturday, April 28, 2018

2018-19 Oklahoma City Thunder

2017-18: 48-34 (5th in the West, lost in the 1st rd)
Draft picks: 53,57
Signed for next season ($137.5m): Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Steven Adams, Paul George, Andre Roberson, Alex Abrines, Patrick Patterson, Kyle Singler, Terrence Ferguson, Dakari Johnson

This summer's free agents: Ray Felton, Nick Collison, Jerami Grant, Josh Huestis, Corey Brewer, Daniel Hamilton, PJ Dozier
I suspect it is time to bid adieu to Collison (I can see him getting kicked upstairs). I'd re-sign Grant and Huestis (though I don't see where the money comes from). Hamilton and Dozier are on 2-way contracts. Not sure about Felton, his contract was reasonable last year though they could probably do better in that price range.

First things first: George ($20.7m) has a player option and Carmelo has an early termination option ($27.9m). Sure seems to me that George could get a bigger paycheck on a better team, so I'd be kinda shocked if he returns. Melo, on the other hand, ain't getting no $28m from anyone else, so I expect he will be back. (I hated the Melo trade when it happened, fully expect to still hate it next year) Losing George will save them $20 million but that's not a lot (though if they could beg Melo to opt out, too, then they could truly remake the team).

Gotta be honest: #53 and #57 are not sexy draft picks. If they could somehow sneak the Martin (Nevada) twins, that'd be their best move. Otherwise they should draft Euro prospects since they don't have money to spend on draft picks anyway.

Right now: well, even without PG they'll still have a decent roster around Westbrook and perhaps Melo has a renaissance. I dunno, it's hard to see them finishing as high as 5th in the West next year though. They become dangerous playoff underdog instead of odds-on fave. Next summer they'll have more flexibility, can they lure someone in then?

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