Oklahoma City Thunder’s summer additions will lead them back to playoffs

These players may or may not play a role in OKC’s rotation this year, but they are older players who could bring a win-now attitude.

Davis Bertans

The Thunder took on Bertans’ bad contract (2 years, $33M remaining) in order to trade up from pick 12 to pick 10 to select Cason Wallace. He only appeared in 45 games for the Mavericks last season, only seeing about 11 minutes of action per game.

Bertans isn’t the player or shooter that he was in the 2019-20 season with the Washington Wizards, where he averaged 15.4 points per game while shooting 42.4% from three on 8.7 attempts from deep per game. With the Mavs, he just averaged 4.6 points on 39.0% from deep on 3.1 attempts per game. Bertans’ shot diet is essentially strictly threes, and if he’s knocking them down, he’s a plus impact player on the offense end. He could add spacing to this Thunder team.

The problem with Bertans is that he provides nothing else with his inconsistent shooting. He can’t really attack closeouts and go at defenders off the catch, as he’s a poor dribbler, mid-range shooter, and finisher. He is a bad defender. He needs to be shooting well to provide any sort of value.

It’s a decent swing for the Thunder. If they can get Bertans to hit some shots in spot minutes, it’s good. His contract is not attractive at all, but luckily only two years remain. They deemed it worth to take in order to get Cason Wallace, so let’s see if this gamble on Bertans can find any value.

Rudy Gay

Gay was acquired in the trade alongside TyTy Washington and Usman Garuba. Quite frankly, Gay is quite washed, and I truly don’t expect him to remain on the Thunder roster for next season. It would be shocking if he is in the rotation, honestly.

For the Jazz last season, he appeared in 56 games, playing 14.6 minutes per. He averaged 5.2 points per game on a terrible 47.5 TS% (38.0/25.4/85.7 shooting splits). Yes, he shot 25.4% from deep. He lacks any burst that he once had, and the only place he’s decent is the mid-post, where he retains some shot creation ability, but who wants to give soon-to-be 37-year-old Rudy Gay mid-post touches? The Thunder would much rather give touches to their younger pieces to give them the opportunity to grow.

He isn’t really a strong defender anymore, either. Essentially, if Gay is to stick on the roster, I think it is likely as a veteran leader role because I don’t see him as a valuable NBA player anymore unless he can regain his catch & shoot three point ability.

Victor Oladipo

Oladipo is only here because he is on the active roster, but there is a chance that Oladipo never plays a possession in an OKC jersey due to his injury that he sustained in this most recent postseason.

If he does play and is legitimately healthy, he can still be a high-level perimeter defender. His shot is shaky and inconsistent, and he can bring decent downhill juice to the Thunder. The guard room is just so crowded here that it may be hard to break into the rotation when coming off of an injury.