Inside The Cost Savings Of Eight-Player Deal With Rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder entered training camp with real roster spots on the line. With 18 guaranteed contracts on the books but only 15 spots available on the opening night roster, three players would need to be cut or traded.

The four players that were realistically fighting for that final roster spot included Derrick Favors, Ty Jerome, Vit Krejci and Theo Maledon.

Thunder GM Sam Presti is one of the most creative executives in the entire NBA, so what was to come next shouldn’t come as a surprise. Instead of just cutting three players during the course of training camp, he found a way to gain assets and save money while also avoiding a true roster crunch.

Earlier this week, Presti’s plan was set in motion as Oklahoma City traded Krejci to the Hawks for a package that included Maurice Harkless, a 2029 second-round pick and an amendment to the 2025 second rounder Atlanta already owned to the Thunder. This essentially meant that Oklahoma City obtained two second-round selections, as the previously owned pick was extremely unlikely to convey without the amendment in this deal.

What was most interesting about this trade is that it didn’t actually work from a financial standpoint. However, with Chet Holmgren suffering a season-ending foot injury earlier this summer, Oklahoma City obtained a Disabled Player Exception (DPE) that allowed them to absorb Harkless’ contract.

Later in the week Presti would make yet another move, leveraging some of the pieces he obtained in the deal prior.

On Thursday night, Oklahoma City made an eight-player trade with the Houston Rockets that seemed strange at first. However, when digging deeper it actually benefitted both franchises.

The deal itself sent Derrick Favors, Ty Jerome and Theo Maledon along with recently acquired Harkless and the amended second-rounder to Houston. In return, Oklahoma City brought back David Nwaba, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss.

While on the surface this deal looked like the Thunder gave away a second-round pick to simply swap four end of rotation players, the financial implications ultimately made it all worth it. Oklahoma City gained two trade exceptions with these moves and helped the team drop roughly $10 million under the luxury tax with about $1 million in salary savings. It was a cost-cutting move that also netted trade exceptions that could prove to be valuable down the road.

The Thunder are still three players over the 15-man limit after both of these trades, but the cuts feel much easier now. Of the players Oklahoma City brought back this week, only one truly fits the timeline. Chriss is just 25 years old, while Brown is 27 and both Nwaba and Burke are 29.

Furthermore, there’s no guarantee any of these four players make the final roster. Oklahoma City could also opt to cut all four and sign a free agent or call up one of their two-way or G League prospects. The Thunder could also just enter the season with 14 players. This is great flexibility to have and opens quite a few doors between now and the start of the regular season.

Over the course of the week, Presti flipped four players and a second-round pick for a different four players and second rounder. In what was essentially an even swap, the team now has much more flexibility from both a roster and financial standpoint.

The official 15-man roster is required to be finalized by October 17.