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The Thunder have made another deal. This time around, the deal includes Thunder forward Kelly Oubre Jr .. Oubre Jr heads to Golden State in exchange for his 2021 protected first-round pick. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN had the details.
The Golden State Warriors are finalizing a trade to acquire Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kelly Oubre, Jr. for a protected 2021 first-round pick, sources told ESPN.
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 20, 2020
It’s one of the top 20 protected picks, which means the pick will only air if the Warriors pick falls between 21-30. As long as the pick is within the range of 1 to 20, it will air as two future second round picks for OKC. The Thunder also created a $ 14.4 million business exception to the settlement.
Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN and Shams Charania by Athletic broke the news of this deal on Thursday night.
Sources: The Warriors will only air that first-round pick next season if they finish 21-30 in the final regular season standings. If the Warriors fall into the top 20, they will send two second-round picks to OKC. https://t.co/ltzvx7cIhQ
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 20, 2020
Oubre was acquired from Phoenix in the Chris Paul trade last Monday. The 24-year-old winger was expected to have teams interested in him because of his scoring and shooting skills. Oubre had his best season until last year when he averaged 18.7 PPG at an efficient 51.7 eFG%.
Oubre has improved his three-point shots every season in terms of volume and efficiency. Last season he shot a respectable 35.2% of three on 5.5 attempts per game. Oubre was an important part of the Suns offense last year.
Oubre is an expiring salary and is expected to earn $ 14.4 million this season before coming to UFA. The Warriors will use their $ 17.2 million business exception on the deal to avoid having to match wages to make the deal work. The Oubre acquisition will have serious financial implications for the Warriors; Bobby Marks ESPN reported on the effects of payroll.
Golden State’s tax bill is currently $ 66 million
The addition of Kelly Oubre would increase to $ 134 million
$ 14.4 million Oubre + $ 68 million in taxes = $ 82.4 million
– Bobby Marks (@ BobbyMarks42) November 19, 2020
This move seems to indicate that the Warriors still plan to compete this season despite the news of Klay Thompson’s Achilles tear. This injury will rule him out for the entirety of this season.
The motivation behind trading Oubre is to give the Thunder the ability to facilitate a trade between pending UFA Danilo Gallinari and a team of their choice. The trade itself is about creating the financial flexibility necessary for the Thunder to keep the Gallinari cap on the books.
One of the big concerns with the Al Horford trade was that it would eliminate this possibility and OKC would have to give up Gallinari’s rights. The Oubre trade means the Thunder still have the rights to Gallinari and have the ability to signal and trade Danilo.
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