When the Oklahoma City Thunder initially bought out Patrick Patterson, it was speculated the forward would give back some of the $5.7 million the franchise owed him in 2019-20.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks is reporting Patterson is, in fact, giving the Thunder a chunk of the money he is owed back. He’s actually giving Oklahoma City more than half of it.
Patterson will only make a little over $2.2 million courtesy of the Thunder for the next three seasons, leaving $3.5 million on the table. He is expected to make $2.3 million with his new team, the Los Angeles Clippers. In the end, Patterson will lose $1.2 million as a result of this move.
As it was pointed out when the news of the buyout first broke, the Thunder, who now have 13 players on the roster, can sign a player without NBA experience for $898,000. Such a deal would put Oklahoma City $160,933 over the luxury tax line. Adding a player with league experience only gets the team deeper into the luxury tax.
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