Trade #1 Details
OKC: Ziaire Williams, Day’Ron Sharpe, 2030 BOS Swap Rights, & 2031 BOS 1st
BOS: Lu Dort & Ousmane Dieng
BKN: Anfernee Simons
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Trade #2 Details
OKC: Georges Niang, 2027 LAC 2nd, & 2029 Second Most Favorable 1st Of UTA/MIN/CLE
UTA: Isaiah Joe
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Trade #3 Details
OKC: 2026 WAS 2nd & 2027 More Favorable Of BKN/DAL 2nd
WAS: Nikola Topic
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OKC’s Ideal Post Deadline Starting Lineup:
SGA, Caruso, JDub, Chet, & Hartenstein
Backup Five:
Ajay, Cason, Wiggins, Kenny, & Jaylin
Rest Of Bench:
CP3!!, Williams, Niang, Sorber, & Sharpe
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Here are my thoughts on OKC’s financial situation. I believe we have to keep Isaiah Hartenstein no matter what. He simply has too much value to our team for multiple reasons.
Elite defender
Best offensive-rebounding big in the NBA
Top tier short-roll passer
Unlocks OKC’s entire half-court game
Allows Chet to stay at the 4 defensively
Transformative for OKC’s rebounding
With the above said, Lu Dort is the odd man out unfortunately. While he is a great defender, Dort is an inconsistent shooter, streaky playoff performer, & on a very moveable salary. Lastly, he’s easily replaceable. We already have two guys in Cason & Caruso who can consume all his minutes while providing better shooting. Hartenstein though is irreplaceable. He’s one of the smartest non-superstar big men in the league & makes the stars around him better.
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Now, what’s my plan for OKC to stay competitive, remain at the top of the league, & stay under the second apron?
Trade Deadline
Moving on from Lu Dort. As much as it pains me to say it just doesn’t make sense to decline Dort’s team option & let him walk away for nothing. At still only 26 years old & with a team option, he’ll be a very attractive piece at the deadline for multiple teams looking to add both great defense & a leader. Being able to acquire expiring salary along with a first rounder further out in the future would be a big win.
Sending Isaiah Joe away. This one hurts a lot because nobody thought Joe would be in the league after not succeeding in Philadelphia. But he put in the work & became one of OKC’s best shooting pieces. Unfortunately as we saw in the playoffs, rotations are condensed & Joe wasn’t able to really provide us meaningful minutes due to the guys ahead of him. This is another case of being able to acquire expiring salary with future draft capital & gaining cap relief.
Trading Nikola Topic. I wasn’t a fan of when OKC first drafted him & with Ajay on the rise it’s clear to me Topic simply won’t have a role on this team. It’s best for both OKC & Topic to mutually part ways like how they did with Giddey, who’s now super successful in Chicago. I don’t want to hinder Topic’s career & potential by keeping him in OKC sitting on the bench. Washington would be the perfect spot for Topic to grow & develop.
Offseason
Decline team option on Kenny Hustle. Letting Kenrich Williams walk would be tough on OKC’s morale but in this scenario we resign him for less money.
Decline team options on Zaire Williams & Day’Ron Sharpe. We simply do not need these two taking up $12.5M of our cap to be bench warmers.
Resign Isaiah Hartenstein to a 4yr $102M contract after declining his team option, with a starting salary of $24M. In this deal iHart gets the bag & security while OKC gets even further under the second apron to allow for the rookie contracts.
NBA Draft
Select PF Koa Peat With #6 Pick(Projected Salary $9M) - NBA Comp: Young Aaron Gordon
Select SG Cameron Carr With #16 Pick(Projected Salary $5M) - NBA Comp: Isaiah Joe
Select PG Cayden Boozer With #28 Pick(Projected Salary $3.1M) - NBA Comp: Tre Jones +
Select SF Alex Karaban With #32 Pick(Projected Salary $1.2M) - Sam Hauser +
Free Agency
Resign Kenrich Williams To A Two Year Contract Worth $8M(Team Option Second Season)
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Projected Payroll After Draft/FA: $221.6M
Second Apron Space: $1.5M
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OKC’s Ideal 2026-27 Starting Lineup:
SGA, Caruso, JDub, Chet, & Hartenstein
Backup Five:
Ajay, Cason, Wiggins, Peat, & Jaylin
Rest Of Bench:
Boozer, Carr, Karaban, Kenny, & Sorber
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