Oklahoma City Thunder

Out of every single team in the league, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the only ones with extreme financial flexibility right now, even though they waived Kemba Walker and will have to be paying him a lot of money that is considered “dead cap” towards their 2021-22 payroll. Right now, OKC is a team that is going to be looking to focus a lot of attention on their young players and they could potentially look to bring in Kelly Oubre Jr. for a one-year contract. 

They do have some needs on the wing, especially with both Kenrich Williams and Gabriel Deck having non-guaranteed deals for the upcoming season, and they might as well spend some of their available cap space, especially if they are able to get it right back at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. 

Last offseason, the Thunder traded for Oubre Jr. from the Phoenix Suns, but then they quickly flipped him to the Golden State Warriors so he never played a game for the Thunder. Bringing him “back” could be advantageous to Sam Presti and this Thunder front-office because they do not have anything to lose. 

If Oubre plays well for them, great! If not, well they would not be tied down to him long-term and they could just let him try to find another destination in free agency next offseason. Right now, the Thunder do have 15 players under contract for the 2021-22 season, including their drafted rookies, so they would have to clear up a roster spot to bring in Kelly Oubre Jr. 

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The good news for the Thunder is that not only are Williams and Deck on non-guaranteed deals, but so is Charlie Brown Jr. and Isaiah Roby, giving them options on who they would potentially want to waive to bring in Oubre Jr. For a no-risk, potential reward move, signing Kelly Oubre Jr. to a one-year deal definitely makes sense for the Thunder.