The Oklahoma City Thunder retooling has been something to watch in the 2019 offseason. They lost a few assistant coaches to begin the changes, then they moved up on draft night to take a chance on Darius Bazley, then moved All-Star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, and now they have made another move.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder are now sending Jerami Grant to the Denver Nuggets for a 2020 first round pick. The deal does save Oklahoma City $39 million in salary and luxury tax money. The deal also does bring the Thunder its sixth first-round pick after acquiring five in the George trade.
Grant’s departure marks the second by a 2018-19 starter (77 games started). He averaged 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks and the defensive end of the floor is where the Thunder might feel his absence the most. He also shot a career-high 39.2 percent from deep as he was continuing to improve in that area.
Oklahoma City is setting itself up for a nice future as they now have six first-round picks. There have been grumbles that Russell Westbrook is not happy either so this could be forming into a full scale rebuild for a team that not too long ago was in legitimate title contending conversations.
