The first 12 hours of the 2018 NBA free agency period have been absolutely massive for Oklahoma City. They re-signed star Paul George on a 4-year, $137 million max contract and were also able to secure Jerami Grant for $27 million over the next 3 years.
This is huge for the Thunder. For the first time in a while, they have a secure core that is locked up for the next several years. Sam Presti and seemingly Russell Westbrook did an amazing job reeling PG back in, and it’s time to build even more from here.
OKC has a good amount of young talent that will continue to develop and mold together extremely well. Think Steven Adams, Grant, and Andre Roberson. In fact, those three will most likely end up as the team’s starting squad alongside Westbrook and George.
This brings up the whole issue with Carmelo Anthony. From a salary cap perspective, with 11 players their payroll for the 2018-19 season is $156 million. Due to the repeater tax penalty, the franchise would owe the largest tax bill in NBA history. They would owe $130 million dollars.
Take a peek at Carmelo’s stats last season. He started 78 games for the Thunder, shooting a split of 40.4-35.7-76.7 while averaging by far a career low 16.6 points per game. It’s the first time his scoring average has gone south of 20, but it’s not like he made up for it by passing more. Melo averaged another career low of 1.3 assists, and at this point it seems like both parties should split.
He opted into his $27.9 million option for next season, which is a hindrance for Oklahoma city. On the bright side, there’s a way out of it all. There’s two actually, and that is for the team to either buy out or stretch the hefty contract.
Buying it out would essentially be ripping off an old Band Aid. They give him his money and both sides go their own separate ways. It doesn’t feel good, but it has to be done. On the side of stretching it out, the Thunder could pay him about $9.3 million each year for the next 3 seasons.
By using the waive-and-stretch method, it would save them $91 million in taxes this year. Remember though, that his $9 or so million still would impact the salary cap over the next several years. It’s a whole lot cheaper than the alternative in one year though, so stretching it might just be the Thunder’s best option.
If the Thunder can convince Melo to take a bench role, besides his contract he would be a positive contributor to the team. He was hesitant last season to lose his starting spot, so who knows. The final option for OKC is to find a trade for him. Almost any trade would be worth accepting immediately, considering few teams would want to take on the burden of his contract while offering up any good pieces.
The Thunder are in a good spot, and correctly handling Carmelo Anthony’s contract by stretching it would put them in a great one. Keeping Paul George was a very important step in the search of a championship, and Presti needs to continue making the right choices if he wants to be holding a Larry O’Brien Trophy within the next few years.
