The $270 million dollar question

[LakersLegacy]

This is the $270 million dollar question. Please help me understand how the Thunder can pull this off.

Westbrook 35.4 mil
George 30.3 mil (5 year - 175.7mil)
Melo 27.9 mil
Adams 24.2 mil
Roberson 10 mil
Total for 5 players 127.8 mil

Thunder luxury tax payment history
17-18 season luxury tax of 24.5 mil
16-17 season no lux tax! Thanks KD
15-16 season luxury tax of 14.5 mil
14-15 season luxury tax of 2.8

The Thunder have paid the luxury tax in 3
of the 4 previous seasons, which means the Thunder now have to pay dreaded repeater tax offender penalties

This means the Thunder’s luxury tax bill is going to sky rocket. By how much? The Thunder will have to pay a dollar for dollar repeat offender tax in addition to the punitive, progressive tax. After the Thunder pay for the rest of the roster the bill will reach between $250 to $270 million dollars.

QUESTION 1) How can the teams owners afford it?

The Thunder don’t have a 2018 or 2020
1st round draft pick. League rules prevent the Thunder from trading the 2019 and 2021 draft picks.

QUESTION 2). So how will OKC shed salary?

Melo won’t get any offers close to 27.9 mil at age 34. He should opt in. The only options I see is either the Thunder somehow get Melo (27.9 mil) to opts out of his player option (no soup for you) and/or find a team to take Adams (24.2 mil) and his massive contract.

Good lord thats a lot of money to be the 5th seed team in the West behind the dominate Warriors, the sizzling Rockets, the young rookie contract built Wolves and Kawhi-less Spurs.



QUESTION 3) How does OKC have more money to burn than every other team in the league?

How will the GM get ownership to approve this? This is the same ownership that decided to trade current MVP front runner James Harden for Kevin Martin to save 3.7 mil per season.

OPTIONAL QUESTIONS 4) Does anyone else have stories similar to NBA players similar to Brook Lopez cleaning your grade school crushes apartments. Because, why not

Happy Friday before trade deadline.

[NBAFan93]

That arena is always packed and their ticket prices are really high. They are also a very popular team so maybe merchandising... I don’t know.


Thinking about them all - PG would be a bird rights situation if he resigns, right? Melo could probably be the same thing if he declined his option? Actually Roberson could have been too - was he a FA when he signed that contract? Westbrook is one of those Supermax DPE type guys cause they drafted him and he won MVP - don’t you save cap money on them too?

[nedleeds]

Westbrick at $35 million. The supermax is a franchise killer. It should have been that the difference between max and super didn't count against the cap. It's crippling.

[NBAFan93]

Westbrick at $35 million. The supermax is a franchise killer. It should have been that the difference between max and super didn't count against the cap. It's crippling.

I actually thought there was something like that, but I’m reading and it looks like no...

[LAKESHOW]

They shoulda kept harden. KD. Westbrook. That's money well spent. 270 for this current collection, is not worth it.

[Dominator83]

Ouch. All I'm gonna say is, glad it's not my money

[azcatz11]

They shoulda kept harden. KD. Westbrook. That's money well spent. 270 for this current collection, is not worth it.

We need a 30 for 30 on what would have happened if they kept Harden. I think it'll happen in like 2030

[KobeBryant24]

PG coming to LA

[LakerLegend]

This is the $270 million dollar question. Please help me understand how the Thunder can pull this off.

Westbrook 35.4 mil
George 30.3 mil (5 year - 175.7mil)
Melo 27.9 mil
Adams 24.2 mil
Roberson 10 mil
Total for 5 players 127.8 mil

Thunder luxury tax payment history
17-18 season luxury tax of 24.5 mil
16-17 season no lux tax! Thanks KD
15-16 season luxury tax of 14.5 mil
14-15 season luxury tax of 2.8

The Thunder have paid the luxury tax in 3
of the 4 previous seasons, which means the Thunder now have to pay dreaded repeater tax offender penalties

This means the Thunder’s luxury tax bill is going to sky rocket. By how much? The Thunder will have to pay a dollar for dollar repeat offender tax in addition to the punitive, progressive tax. After the Thunder pay for the rest of the roster the bill will reach between $250 to $270 million dollars.

QUESTION 1) How can the teams owners afford it?

The Thunder don’t have a 2018 or 2020
1st round draft pick. League rules prevent the Thunder from trading the 2019 and 2021 draft picks.

QUESTION 2). So how will OKC shed salary?

Melo won’t get any offers close to 27.9 mil at age 34. He should opt in. The only options I see is either the Thunder somehow get Melo (27.9 mil) to opts out of his player option (no soup for you) and/or find a team to take Adams (24.2 mil) and his massive contract.

Good lord thats a lot of money to be the 5th seed team in the West behind the dominate Warriors, the sizzling Rockets, the young rookie contract built Wolves and Kawhi-less Spurs.



QUESTION 3) How does OKC have more money to burn than every other team in the league?

How will the GM get ownership to approve this? This is the same ownership that decided to trade current MVP front runner James Harden for Kevin Martin to save 3.7 mil per season.

OPTIONAL QUESTIONS 4) Does anyone else have stories similar to NBA players similar to Brook Lopez cleaning your grade school crushes apartments. Because, why not

Happy Friday before trade deadline.

Could've saved you a lot of trouble friend:

WOJ: 1 year run for Thunder, won't pay to keep roster together

The Oklahoma City Thunder are unlikely to continue with their current trajectory of an expensive roster and the luxury tax ramifications. The Thunder will have a luxury tax bill of approximately $25 million this season and it would be even higher in 18-19.

The Thunder signed Russell Westbrook to a $233 million extension in training camp while Paul George can sign a new deal this offseason.

"If we're being honest with ourselves, this is a one-year run with this team," said Wojnarowski on his podcast. "They have one chance with this team because they cannot bring back this team together next year. Even if Paul George re-signs and says 'I want to stay.' Financially, it is impossible for this team, I don't want to say remotely look the same, but the idea of Carmelo, Westbrook and George on the same roster withe Melo opting into his salary next year.

"This would be an incredible bill for the New York Knicks, the Lakers or Steve Ballmer to pay, nevermind Clay Bennett in a small market like Oklahoma City."

Wojnarowski, Royce Young and Bobby Marks talked about how their decision to decline the option on Josh Huestis as an example of how they're already making cost conscious moves.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/248018/Thunder-Unlikely-To-Afford-Current-Roster-Beyond-17-18

[Dupp]

This just makes not wanting to pay harden a little bit more all that much worse. Cheap at the wrong time. They had 3 mvps* and dpoy all at once.















*Hardens mvp not yet finalised.

[HotTubMike]

That’s incredible. The OKC salary situation hadn’t even crossed my mind... this is killer. No way they can afford to extend PG13 with Adams, RW and Carmelo all on a max.

[GregOden]

This just makes not wanting to pay harden a little bit more all that much worse. Cheap at the wrong time. They had 3 mvps* and dpoy all at once.















*Hardens mvp not yet finalised.

They probably figured with their drafting history they could do it again. Just unwarranted hubris, but that's pretty common in the business world. Those that rise to the top are often narcissists.

[Fobbie]

Geezus, 270 for a team that's fighting for 3rd/4th place at best.

[LakersLegacy]

Trading Roberson will save OKC 26.25 mil next season (10 mil salary + 16.25 mil luxury tax penalties + dollar for dollar repeater tax penalties)

http://hoop.nba.com/nba_hoop_featured/the-cost-of-winning/

Roberson may be an easy trade target. Great defender.

Maybe OKC will throw in a second round pick or more for expiring contracts because good lawd 26.25 mil is a lot of money to pay for Roberson.

Roberson is injured, so no help this year. Long term strategy for sure. Pick plus excellent defender for next season at a low cost.

[rpa]

Westbrick at $35 million. The supermax is a franchise killer. It should have been that the difference between max and super didn't count against the cap. It's crippling.

That right there is why the Kings traded Cousins more than anything else. People seem to forget that when they trash the Kings for the return they got.



As for the question at hand: if I was the Thunder I'd try to get Melo to opt out and give him a longterm deal starting at a much lower salary--something like $10-12 mil--and make it for 5 years. If Melo opts in he'd get that fat check, but he'd also be 35 next summer when he's a free agent. I've got a hard time seeing any team giving him a longterm deal. The Thunder could guarantee him that money, but spread it out over more years.

[sacking123]

Westbrick at $35 million. The supermax is a franchise killer. It should have been that the difference between max and super didn't count against the cap. It's crippling.

Realistically a franchise should be able to spend whatever they want on a super max eligible player and it only count as a normal max. Having said that, you could see more players force their way to bigger markets, but it should balance out a little


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[DS17]

Westbrick at $35 million. The supermax is a franchise killer. It should have been that the difference between max and super didn't count against the cap. It's crippling.

That right there is why the Kings traded Cousins more than anything else. People seem to forget that when they trash the Kings for the return they got.



As for the question at hand: if I was the Thunder I'd try to get Melo to opt out and give him a longterm deal starting at a much lower salary--something like $10-12 mil--and make it for 5 years. If Melo opts in he'd get that fat check, but he'd also be 35 next summer when he's a free agent. I've got a hard time seeing any team giving him a longterm deal. The Thunder could guarantee him that money, but spread it out over more years.

LOL. If your melo, why the Fu** would you do a 5/50 year contract when you can easily do a 1/27+ one... No one in their right mind is gonna pay him 20+/ year now lol. There are only a few NBA teams with ample capspace in 2018. I'm guessing your an OKC fan but be realistic dude !!

[Dupp]

If thunder do ok and stay together past next season I wonder what melo will want to get paid if the other two are on max money

[Revived]

That's crazy. Clay Bennett bought the team for $350 million. And now he might have to pay $270 million just for one season? Crazy.

[Mylie10]

OPTIONAL QUESTIONS 4) Does anyone else have stories similar to NBA players similar to Brook Lopez cleaning your grade school crushes apartments. Because, why not

Happy Friday before trade deadline.

So back when Chris Webber was a rookie I had contracted to do work in his new residence in BlackHawk California. It's about 40 minutes from Oakland in a gated community. The house was huge and sat atop a hill overlooking a valley.

Webber's aunt was taking care of a lot of his legal stuff and helping him get settled in his new situation. Webber was not feeling living in the Bay Area and especially California. He was deathly afraid of earthquakes.

The family had Webbers cousin G. staying at the house to make sure someone was there and kind of handling things that were going on. G was hella cool though, so we liked dealing with him. We were working there for a while and the Friggin parade of girls coming to the house was nice for a job site. Especially in the mornings when we'd get there around 8:00 am. By 10 the girl or girls would head out to leave looking all next day haggard.

Not saying Webber smoked out, but the house always had a nice aroma to it. And we found weed in a drawer in the kitchen lol, but G said it was his haha.

There was a second story area that overlooked the family room that had a giant TV and an even bigger couch. If we were working upstairs we'd often see Webb watching TV and eating cereal. Man he ate a lot of cereal. And man he ate out of a giant cereal bowl. Oh to be young.

Webb was cool to talk to, but he was real low key. I was talking to him one afternoon by his basketball court in the backyard the looked over the valley. He was shooting free throws, and honestly he sucked, but I know he was just messing around...but he did suck. The Warriors were gonna play Utah that night so we asked him if he was looking forward to the game. He said not really. We asked him why and he said becaue Karl Malone was a dick. He said everyone in the league hated Karl Malone lol....we were dyin on that one.

One effed up thing happened and we had to come back to the job while he was out of town on a road trip. We had to paint this wood door that was totally scratched up. I mean like really scratched up. The neighbor lady came over and told us, that this little Rottweiler puppy scratched the door up. Ok I thought, dogs will do that. But this was because they left out of town, but didn't arrange for anyone to take care of the dog. They just let it fend for itself. I wanted to piss in his cereal bowl for that.

He also had this huge garage that had living quarters over it. We had some work to do in there and in one room he had this little studio he had set up. He had this notepad sitting next to a mixer and sound system and on the notepad he had been writing rap lyrics.....hella funny. We were dying reading those lyrics. Let's just say it's a good thing he stuck to basketball.

The best thing of all was his master bedroom. Super high ceilings in there and the room was huge. Dude had hella candles and with all the chicks flowin in and out I can understand some candles. But there was candle wax on the wall....no big right...Except that it was way high up on th wall, and you could tell it was flung up there. I can only imagine what the Heck was goin on that night lol.....I was afraid to touch anything in there after that.

Anyway, dude was really cool, except the puppy ish, and it was fun working there. That was s a fun Warrior season and had that team gelled and stayed together, they could have wrecked shop eventually. To bad Webber hated Don Nelson and was deathly afraid of earthquakes.....but what could have been....cue the dream sequence.......