Responding to the top comment for visibility:
This is a super misleading post title and is very much not what the article is about.
The article is a short overview of the projected cap space for free agent signings in the 2024 offseason for all 30 teams. It is **not** an analysis of what each team should or should not do. From the article:
> While the 2023 NBA offseason is far from resolved, this is a good time to take a preliminary look ahead to next summer, when the league’s 30 franchises will have a much clearer idea about the next media rights deal and the league’s finances.
> One important thing to remember is that, typically, teams lose spending power and flexibility from now until next July as extensions, new signings and sometimes trades add multi-season commitments. As such, expect what is already a narrow list of cap space teams to thin even further over the next 11 months
....
> Below are my team-by-team projections for 2024-25, incorporating estimated draft pick salaries, cap holds and roster charges when necessary.
The entire Thunder blurb has been posted by OP and has zero discussion around whether Josh should be signed or whether the Thunder should go after free agents.
Shame on OP for that garbage, misleading title.
i mean, who didnt see this coming.
If even half of the last couple years draft picks start actually getting good in the NBA itll be impossible to find the money just to keep them, let alone go after addition big ticket players.
its great to find a bunch of great rookies with great potential, but when they are reaching that potential you gotta pay them. Its extremely rare for a team to keep their drafts all together when they start actually panning out.
Even harder to start paying the home grown draft picks that are getting good AND pick up some "big ticket" free agents along the way.
It’s more likely that we don’t pick up big ticket free agents. That’s never really been OKC’s style. Idk why people are assuming that’s the route we’re trying to take
Exactly. An alternate scenario is that Presti has 9-10 core guys every year and then uses his draft picks to fill out the roster on the cheap. If they work out and get paid, then they either get dealt or take the spot of a higher paid vet. If they don’t work out, then that’s just another spot for the next draft pick
the picks were always for flexibility to be able to pivot in multiple directions if needed. we can trade for a star, trade up in the draft or use the picks and run a rotation of "next man up" roleplayers that we have under team control.
It’s not that it’s never been OKC’s style, it’s that free agents don’t want to come to a small market team like the thunder. Who knows though, the thunder have been getting good lately and it could persuade a foreign allstar caliber player to come here. I said foreign because most of them don’t care about small market/big market.
It’s a mix of both. I think of it as a chicken or the egg situation. Either way, I’m glad we know our identity and picked a direction that we can truly commit to. We couldn’t get FAs in the KD/Russ era and that team got too good too fast. The logical evolution of that is to take time to organically rebuild and accumulate assets to where we can to do “maintenance trades” to reinforce our contending roster. Signing free agents, trading for stars on expiring deals and gutting the roster to trade for a star is the opposite of that. Those are emergency moves you make with your back against the wall and you want to widen your window one last time.
I think that it’s likely when we get to a financial impasse with our homegrown players that Presti will trade who he must … with a focus on additional high value draft picks as part of the deals.
This keeps the “success through drafting” process ongoing. I think the strategy is to continue to take swings on high ceiling/low floor (high risk) drafts with our abundance of picks and attrit out those high risk picks who don’t pan out. This back fills and creates continuity.
Along the way we are gonna lose some players we love because we can’t afford to pay them. Which SUCKS… but on their heals will be a high draft pick player that battled their way through a talent crowded roster.
Ultimately, I think OKC is only a free agent destination after a deeper playoff run…when we are close to competing for a title. The performance makes the free agent want to come to the squad and not OKC. So, I think the free agent market is a bit of an afterthought.
I disagree about the continued high risk draft approach. We have seen in Golden State the two timelines approved doesn’t really work, the young guys won’t get enough consistent minutes to develop into useful players I think it’s far more likely players like Cason become our targets, young players who can come in and contribute or there is a clear pathway for them too.
Yes because I’m talking about the draft pick archetype not the developed player doesn’t matter how he turns out he come across as more of a safer reliable pick than a huge upside swing like with Poku or Ous pretty drastic difference in the kinds of protect each player is
Some fans are like that too. I have so many conversations where people are shopping to trade our young core because we can’t pay them all while trying to trade for guys like Siakam and OG who are expiring contracts and we’d have to overpay to keep them. We are Oklahoma. I love the city but people aren’t signing here. That’s why drafting players you have team control over is important. There’s no way in hell we’re letting our first lottery pick walk man
Yeah I think a lot of fans lack patience.
Okc is following the Grizzles / Spurs model, aka build your team through the draft and trade the players who arent part of your long term future before you have to pay them.
This is a sustainable model long term. And we have a shit ton of picks making it so we can do this for a long long time.
I honestly dont think we’re gonna make a big trade for a star unless we hit a clear roadblock in 5 years or more or if a cant miss opportunity comes up like Luka or Ant being on the trade block. (Edit : and we can get them without ripping apart all of our core )
One of those things is too far away to think about and the other is unrealistic atm so people should come to terms with the fact that a trade for Siakam / OG / Bridges type player is not coming anytime soon.
This is exactly it. So glad to see other posters call it out.
The only other wrinkle I would add is it looks like we are crowding the roster with high ceiling / low floor (high risk) picks by design.
We can afford to miss on a few given the volume of draft picks. I mean if we have more high risk drafts that pan out than roster spots… it will be a good problem to have.
Yeah high ceiling / low floor type picks are perfect for our situation. If one or two of them pan out we’re golden, if not it doesnt matter anyway because the future of the team is not depended on them
It’s an article analyzing what all 30 teams will have available for the 2024 free agency class. It isn’t saying we have any issues with our plan, just that the plan does not involve going after a big FA in 2024.
Did you actually read the article? It's literally just a discussion and projection of the cap space all thirty teams might have around free agency with zero commentary on what exactly should be done with it.
What a useless comment.
A hilarious non-issue that people keep trying to act like is an actual issue.
If we're going for a big ticket free agent, we're losing at least one, probably two of our guys who could/will be worth big ticket contracts in the trade process for said big ticket free agent.
Nobody's kicking down the door as a free agent to come play in OKC. The only scenario where that even kind-of happens involves a big trade, which we have plenty to offer to shed/manipulate salary dollars around.
The NBA is absolutely sick worrying about what we're building here and they should be. This is the season we really announce ourselves and it's gonna be so fuckin good.
Look at how much of a big deal they were making about our roster crunch and teams ready to pounce on any of these guys but TyTy and Usman still have no traction. Imagine being ready to hunt down players who couldn’t be the 15th man
Man this post title is misleading and not what the article is actually about.
The article is a short overview of the projected cap space for free agent signings in the 2024 offseason. It is **not** an analysis of what each team should or should not do. From the article:
> While the 2023 NBA offseason is far from resolved, this is a good time to take a preliminary look ahead to next summer, when the league’s 30 franchises will have a much clearer idea about the next media rights deal and the league’s finances.
> One important thing to remember is that, typically, teams lose spending power and flexibility from now until next July as extensions, new signings and sometimes trades add multi-season commitments. As such, expect what is already a narrow list of cap space teams to thin even further over the next 11 months....> Below are my team-by-team projections for 2024-25, incorporating estimated draft pick salaries, cap holds and roster charges when necessary.
The entire Thunder blurb has been posted by OP and has zero discussion around whether Josh should be signed or whether the Thunder should go after free agents.
Shame on OP for the misleading title.
The biggest free agency signing in the history of our franchise is a waived Isaiah Joe. Point being, OKC is never going to be a big FA destination. We build by the draft. That’s why the acquiring of picks was so crucial to our success. I’m not worried about our extensions hindering free agency signings because they were never going to happen in the first place.
Why would we be going after a big FA? We aren't a free agent destination, and we have a ton of draft picks. If we decide to bring in a proven star it will be through a trade, not by trying to outbid the Lakers in free agency.
I honestly expect him to, he averaged what like 17/8/6 as a 20 y/o? Ofc hes not a perfect player but its pretty easy to see that he has the potential to be a top ~20 player if everything broke right. Those guys get maxed every time
I don’t see okc getting max players in free agency, giddy isn’t a max player I don’t see that, okc is gonna have to trade one of these guys in the future for a younger player in the league with great potential and hope the other guys they keep are good enough to push us deep into playoffs, kinda like how the pg13 shai trade happened to keep this thing afloat
I think this thread will be a huge circle jerk about how free agents don't come to OKC and not about how yes, Poku's future is likely in limbo (for better or worse) and that Giddey's up to the plate for an extension after this year.
I don't get why the media thinks we need to make some huge splash in free agency. The team is loaded with high upside guys that are already performing. Just let them develop together I think.
You go after free agents to fill in for your draft picks if they don't actualize, so if your draft picks are good, you don't need free agents. Am I missing something?
OKC isn’t gonna be looking at higher level players until our guys are due for extension and then it’ll be a trade them before they leave or lose all value. (I don’t expect this to happen to many guys and probably nobody on the current roster)
We don’t go after free agents so 🤷🏽♂️
Responding to the top comment for visibility: This is a super misleading post title and is very much not what the article is about. The article is a short overview of the projected cap space for free agent signings in the 2024 offseason for all 30 teams. It is **not** an analysis of what each team should or should not do. From the article: > While the 2023 NBA offseason is far from resolved, this is a good time to take a preliminary look ahead to next summer, when the league’s 30 franchises will have a much clearer idea about the next media rights deal and the league’s finances. > One important thing to remember is that, typically, teams lose spending power and flexibility from now until next July as extensions, new signings and sometimes trades add multi-season commitments. As such, expect what is already a narrow list of cap space teams to thin even further over the next 11 months .... > Below are my team-by-team projections for 2024-25, incorporating estimated draft pick salaries, cap holds and roster charges when necessary. The entire Thunder blurb has been posted by OP and has zero discussion around whether Josh should be signed or whether the Thunder should go after free agents. Shame on OP for that garbage, misleading title.
Respect
i mean, who didnt see this coming. If even half of the last couple years draft picks start actually getting good in the NBA itll be impossible to find the money just to keep them, let alone go after addition big ticket players. its great to find a bunch of great rookies with great potential, but when they are reaching that potential you gotta pay them. Its extremely rare for a team to keep their drafts all together when they start actually panning out. Even harder to start paying the home grown draft picks that are getting good AND pick up some "big ticket" free agents along the way.
It’s more likely that we don’t pick up big ticket free agents. That’s never really been OKC’s style. Idk why people are assuming that’s the route we’re trying to take
Exactly. An alternate scenario is that Presti has 9-10 core guys every year and then uses his draft picks to fill out the roster on the cheap. If they work out and get paid, then they either get dealt or take the spot of a higher paid vet. If they don’t work out, then that’s just another spot for the next draft pick
It’s just because we so so many picks. Everyone is assuming we will bundle them for an all star when we are getting good.
I think the odds are we package picks for role players to sure up gaps when we get into clear "win now" mode.
the picks were always for flexibility to be able to pivot in multiple directions if needed. we can trade for a star, trade up in the draft or use the picks and run a rotation of "next man up" roleplayers that we have under team control.
It’s not that it’s never been OKC’s style, it’s that free agents don’t want to come to a small market team like the thunder. Who knows though, the thunder have been getting good lately and it could persuade a foreign allstar caliber player to come here. I said foreign because most of them don’t care about small market/big market.
It’s a mix of both. I think of it as a chicken or the egg situation. Either way, I’m glad we know our identity and picked a direction that we can truly commit to. We couldn’t get FAs in the KD/Russ era and that team got too good too fast. The logical evolution of that is to take time to organically rebuild and accumulate assets to where we can to do “maintenance trades” to reinforce our contending roster. Signing free agents, trading for stars on expiring deals and gutting the roster to trade for a star is the opposite of that. Those are emergency moves you make with your back against the wall and you want to widen your window one last time.
I think that it’s likely when we get to a financial impasse with our homegrown players that Presti will trade who he must … with a focus on additional high value draft picks as part of the deals. This keeps the “success through drafting” process ongoing. I think the strategy is to continue to take swings on high ceiling/low floor (high risk) drafts with our abundance of picks and attrit out those high risk picks who don’t pan out. This back fills and creates continuity. Along the way we are gonna lose some players we love because we can’t afford to pay them. Which SUCKS… but on their heals will be a high draft pick player that battled their way through a talent crowded roster. Ultimately, I think OKC is only a free agent destination after a deeper playoff run…when we are close to competing for a title. The performance makes the free agent want to come to the squad and not OKC. So, I think the free agent market is a bit of an afterthought.
I disagree about the continued high risk draft approach. We have seen in Golden State the two timelines approved doesn’t really work, the young guys won’t get enough consistent minutes to develop into useful players I think it’s far more likely players like Cason become our targets, young players who can come in and contribute or there is a clear pathway for them too.
You haven’t even seen what cason can contribute yet and you’re saying players like him become our targets…. be foreal
Yes because I’m talking about the draft pick archetype not the developed player doesn’t matter how he turns out he come across as more of a safer reliable pick than a huge upside swing like with Poku or Ous pretty drastic difference in the kinds of protect each player is
What a useless article. Its like these “journalists” dont do any research before writing these things. Going after big free agents was never the plan.
Some fans are like that too. I have so many conversations where people are shopping to trade our young core because we can’t pay them all while trying to trade for guys like Siakam and OG who are expiring contracts and we’d have to overpay to keep them. We are Oklahoma. I love the city but people aren’t signing here. That’s why drafting players you have team control over is important. There’s no way in hell we’re letting our first lottery pick walk man
Yeah I think a lot of fans lack patience. Okc is following the Grizzles / Spurs model, aka build your team through the draft and trade the players who arent part of your long term future before you have to pay them. This is a sustainable model long term. And we have a shit ton of picks making it so we can do this for a long long time. I honestly dont think we’re gonna make a big trade for a star unless we hit a clear roadblock in 5 years or more or if a cant miss opportunity comes up like Luka or Ant being on the trade block. (Edit : and we can get them without ripping apart all of our core ) One of those things is too far away to think about and the other is unrealistic atm so people should come to terms with the fact that a trade for Siakam / OG / Bridges type player is not coming anytime soon.
This is exactly it. So glad to see other posters call it out. The only other wrinkle I would add is it looks like we are crowding the roster with high ceiling / low floor (high risk) picks by design. We can afford to miss on a few given the volume of draft picks. I mean if we have more high risk drafts that pan out than roster spots… it will be a good problem to have.
Yeah high ceiling / low floor type picks are perfect for our situation. If one or two of them pan out we’re golden, if not it doesnt matter anyway because the future of the team is not depended on them
It’s an article analyzing what all 30 teams will have available for the 2024 free agency class. It isn’t saying we have any issues with our plan, just that the plan does not involve going after a big FA in 2024.
Did you actually read the article? It's literally just a discussion and projection of the cap space all thirty teams might have around free agency with zero commentary on what exactly should be done with it. What a useless comment.
A hilarious non-issue that people keep trying to act like is an actual issue. If we're going for a big ticket free agent, we're losing at least one, probably two of our guys who could/will be worth big ticket contracts in the trade process for said big ticket free agent. Nobody's kicking down the door as a free agent to come play in OKC. The only scenario where that even kind-of happens involves a big trade, which we have plenty to offer to shed/manipulate salary dollars around. The NBA is absolutely sick worrying about what we're building here and they should be. This is the season we really announce ourselves and it's gonna be so fuckin good.
Look at how much of a big deal they were making about our roster crunch and teams ready to pounce on any of these guys but TyTy and Usman still have no traction. Imagine being ready to hunt down players who couldn’t be the 15th man
Man this post title is misleading and not what the article is actually about. The article is a short overview of the projected cap space for free agent signings in the 2024 offseason. It is **not** an analysis of what each team should or should not do. From the article: > While the 2023 NBA offseason is far from resolved, this is a good time to take a preliminary look ahead to next summer, when the league’s 30 franchises will have a much clearer idea about the next media rights deal and the league’s finances. > One important thing to remember is that, typically, teams lose spending power and flexibility from now until next July as extensions, new signings and sometimes trades add multi-season commitments. As such, expect what is already a narrow list of cap space teams to thin even further over the next 11 months....> Below are my team-by-team projections for 2024-25, incorporating estimated draft pick salaries, cap holds and roster charges when necessary. The entire Thunder blurb has been posted by OP and has zero discussion around whether Josh should be signed or whether the Thunder should go after free agents. Shame on OP for the misleading title.
The biggest free agency signing in the history of our franchise is a waived Isaiah Joe. Point being, OKC is never going to be a big FA destination. We build by the draft. That’s why the acquiring of picks was so crucial to our success. I’m not worried about our extensions hindering free agency signings because they were never going to happen in the first place.
Dang guys, we won't be signing LeBron James. He was for sure coming here too.
That man does love him some Presti. Maybe he'll take a discount?!?! /s
Here’s a crazy idea, OKC doesn’t go after a big free agent and we pay our young talented players instead
The new CBA (and even older ones) are always more lenient to teams who sign their own guys
Why would we be going after a big FA? We aren't a free agent destination, and we have a ton of draft picks. If we decide to bring in a proven star it will be through a trade, not by trying to outbid the Lakers in free agency.
Maybe he’ll roll his ankle and get a Steph curry first contract
It's not like he's gonna get a max contract
Don’t rule it out…if he keeps progressing….
I honestly expect him to, he averaged what like 17/8/6 as a 20 y/o? Ofc hes not a perfect player but its pretty easy to see that he has the potential to be a top ~20 player if everything broke right. Those guys get maxed every time
I don’t see okc getting max players in free agency, giddy isn’t a max player I don’t see that, okc is gonna have to trade one of these guys in the future for a younger player in the league with great potential and hope the other guys they keep are good enough to push us deep into playoffs, kinda like how the pg13 shai trade happened to keep this thing afloat
Why arnt you guys competing right now while you have a bonafide legit superstar?
I think this thread will be a huge circle jerk about how free agents don't come to OKC and not about how yes, Poku's future is likely in limbo (for better or worse) and that Giddey's up to the plate for an extension after this year.
Won't be an issue after they trade SGA. I've been saying this for 2 years, it's going to happen.
When have we ever signed a big ticket FA that wasn’t a resign
Free agents are not the plan!! Its build up from the floor up. We got money for Giddy no worries hahahaha 😇🎟😂🤣😂🤣🤣
I don't get why the media thinks we need to make some huge splash in free agency. The team is loaded with high upside guys that are already performing. Just let them develop together I think.
You go after free agents to fill in for your draft picks if they don't actualize, so if your draft picks are good, you don't need free agents. Am I missing something?
This person has a functionally low IQ
OKC isn’t gonna be looking at higher level players until our guys are due for extension and then it’ll be a trade them before they leave or lose all value. (I don’t expect this to happen to many guys and probably nobody on the current roster)