The Oklahoma City Thunder are facing a crucial financial decision that could drastically impact the future of their franchise — again.
Nearly three years after the James Harden trade with the Houston Rockets that had everything to do with their desire to minimize exorbitant costs while competing in a small market, the Thunder have three days to match the four-year, $70 million max offer sheet from the Portland Trail Blazers that was signed by restricted free agent forward Enes Kanter on Thursday.
According to a person with knowledge of the deal who confirmed it to USA TODAY Sports, the deal has a player option after the third season. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the offer is not typically disclosed publicly.
Despite the fact that Harden had made it clear to the Thunder in October 2012 that he didn’t want to be with the Thunder unless he was given a max deal, his exit to Houston was widely seen as proof that Oklahoma City wasn’t willing to pay the price it takes to win a title. And now, with former MVP Kevin Durant one year away from his own free agency and the Thunder trying to maintain his confidence in them at every turn, it remains to be seen which way they’ll go.
There are people close to Kanter who are skeptical that the Thunder will match, but general manager Sam Presti said in no uncertain terms Thursday that he plans to do so.
“We haven’t received an offer sheet as of yet,” Presti told The Oklahoman newspaper Thursday regarding the deal that was first reported by Yahoo Sports. “But our intention has been to match offers on Enes and nothing has changed in this regard. Enes expressed his desire to be a part of the Thunder in our meeting with him yesterday and we have planned in advance should he receive an offer such as the one that has been reported.”
If and when the Thunder match the offer sheet and come to terms with Cameron Payne on his rookie-scale contract, their payroll will be approximately $99 million, which is $29 million above the league’s 2015-16 salary cap and nearly $15 million over the luxury tax threshold. The price for that kind of payroll is immense, as Oklahoma City would be on the hook for a luxury tax payment of about $28 million and a grand total price tag of approximately $127 million.
These are enormous numbers for any team, let alone one that plays in the the third-smallest market in the NBA (based on number of television homes). Yet the costlier move, as Presti seems to agree, might be not paying.
For Portland, signing Kanter would be a way to salvage something from the losses it suffered in free agency. The Blazers lost LaMarcus Aldridge to the San Antonio Spurs, Wesley Matthews to the Dallas Mavericks and Robin Lopez to the New York Knicks.
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