NBA Trade Deadline: Oklahoma City Thunder Deal For Randy Foye

The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded spare parts for Denver Nuggets guard Randy Foye at the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline.

In a move meant to bolster their backcourt depth and perimeter shooting for a title run, the Oklahoma City Thunder have traded for Denver Nuggets guard Randy Foye at the 2016 NBA Trade Deadline.

As first reported by The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder are acquiring Foye and sending D.J. Augustin, Steve Novak and two future second round draft picks to Denver.

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This deal is a win for the Thunder on a few fronts. Though Foye is only averaging 6.0 points per game on 35.1 percent shooting from the field and 29.6 percent shooting from three-point range this season, he’s been playing on a lackluster Nuggets team that lacks a facilitator to help set him up for quality looks on the perimeter.

Upgrading from rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay‘s bumpy first season to superstar Russell Westbrook and the impressive Cameron Payne should help in that regard for Foye, who is career 37 percent three-point shooter.

With the Nuggets committing to their youth movement centered around Mudiay, Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic, Foye had been all but ousted from the rotation, averaging a career low 19.8 minutes per game. In Oklahoma City, he’ll have the chance to revive his value in a greater role that somehow also requires less responsibility.

The Thunder also made this move for luxury tax reasons, since the deal will save them quite a substantial amount getting Novak and Augustin’s contracts ($3.8 million and $3 million, respectively) off the books.

Augustin was expected to be a steady backup guard for the Thunder when OKC acquired him at last year’s deadline in the Reggie Jackson trade, but he never found his niche. After averaging 7.3 points in 24.2 minutes per game for the Thunder last year, Augustin’s numbers shrank to 4.2 points in 15.3 minutes per game this season.

The reason? Rookie Cameron Payne, whose emergence eventually relegated Augustin to bench duty, including a grand total of 38 minutes and four appearances over the team’s last 24 games. Augustin is shooting 38 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from three-point range this season and will come off the books this summer.

The rarely used Novak (3.4 minutes per game in seven appearances this season) will also be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Nuggets will look for another team to take on his contract, per Woj. Either way, the real prize for Denver is the pair of second round picks — nothing to get excited about, but a decent haul for an unnecessary rotation piece like Foye.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Thunder have created a $3.8 million trade exception in this deal, and the two second-rounders heading to Denver are OKC’s 2016 second round pick and Charlotte’s 2016 second round pick.

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The Thunder are the big winners of this trade given the luxury tax savings and how Foye might help bolster an already strong three-point attack, but Denver certainly didn’t lose this deal either.