The 2019 offseason saw the complete dismantling of the Oklahoma City Thunder roster and the beginning of the first rebuild in the Thunder era.
The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the 2019 NBA offseason with a simple goal: make some minor, peripheral additions to the roster for another playoff run.
In the opening days of free agency the team did just that, re-signing backup center Nerlens Noel while adding Mike Muscala and Alec Burks on veteran minimum deals to stabilize the bench.
Multiple outlets reported that Oklahoma City would look to make trades to cut salary and reduce their massive luxury tax bill, but those types of moves could be done without damaging the core of the team.
Then in the early hours of July 6 (or late night on July 5, depending on what end of the country you live in) everything changed.
Oklahoma City is trading All-Star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-setting collection of draft choices, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
In a dramatic turn of events — and something nobody in or around the NBA saw coming — the Thunder traded their MVP candidate to the LA Clippers after Kawhi Leonard‘s recruitment.
While the Paul George trade didn’t officially start Oklahoma City’s rebuild, it did mark the beginning. Less than a week later the next bomb came.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to trade Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for Chris Paul, first-round picks in 2024 and 2026, pick swaps in 2021 and 2025, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 12, 2019
In less than seven days the Thunder went from having two of the top 15 players in the league and a team ready to make a playoff run in a wide-open Western Conference to being projected to win 32 games.
The shift in direction came fast and from out of nowhere. The off-season trades are probably not done, either. Oklahoma City currently sits roughly $4 million above the luxury tax line.
If General Manager Sam Presti wanted to cut costs and reduce the teams tax bill before these trades, then there is no way they will pay a cent in luxury tax now.
There is also the Chris Paul question. While he is still a productive player Paul does not match the direction or timeline of the Thunder and he himself probably would rather play for a playoff-bound team.
It may prove difficult to trade a 34-year-old point guard who still has three years and $124 million remaining on his contract.
While the team will continue to evolve and change over the summer these three summer takeaways should hold true through the season.