Assuming that they move Muscala, as has been reported they quickly will, I have the Thunder lowering their tax bill from $147 million to $80 million. Combined with the payroll savings, that is around $80 million saved for a 1st and whatever it takes to move Muscala. Decent work by Presti, but still with an $80 million tax bill. Singler will assuredly be stretched, which will save them another $20 million in taxes this year, but they’re also on pace to be $20 million over the tax again next summer with the acquisition of Schroeder.
I guess they lowered it to ~$86M with them taking back TLC. So if they stretch Singler, that lowers it to around $67M for only 13 players.
Even scarier, they are already $2.2M over the tax for the 6 guaranteed contracts the following season! If everyone opts in to team/player options, they are looking at a $43M tax bill for just 10 players. For a non-contender. Crazy.
And in two years they’d be only $7 million below the tax line with just 6 players.
Things could go downhill quick, but if I were an OKC fan, I'd definitely be excited about their potential. Not only do they provide a difficult matchup for anyone (including GSW), but they are set up well to make a trade for a 3rd banana (probably not in the running for the elite guys like Davis, but more like the second tier malcontent stars).
Also, I think teams are starting to ready themselves for the Warriors inevitable decline due to age (Green), injuries (Curry already showing signs?), and/or free agency (Durant to NY?).