Quote Originally Posted by dankrutka View Post
Again, the fact that people keep saying the Thunder are cheap (and lots of people are saying it... lead by Bill Simmons) makes them look at our moves through that single story. Houston, on the other hand, is seen as very willing to pay top dollar for free agents... and deservedly so. So, if Thunder do the same thing that Houston did, it could be perceived very differently. (By the way, this is the same way that stereotyping works). However it's important to note that when Houston passed on Parsons they immediately spent money and Trevor Ariza AND are already hoping to pay big bucks for that third star... What will OKC do if we don't sign Reggie? Will we spend it on someone else? I think OKC will spend above the tax to win if it finds the right deal, but we won't really know until they do it.

A couple things to consider in terms of Reggie's deal. First, with the new TV contract and the cap expected to rise significantly, you can't compare what Reggie will make against contracts negotiated before these developments. Contracts are rising. Based on similar players who have recently signed deals (see players like Kyle Lowry, Eric Bledsoe, Kemba Walker), I'd say Reggie will get between $10-13 million per year. Here's the question - if the market goes too high for Reggie, will we spend that money in other ways? Free agents aren't likely to flock to OKC so passing on Reggie could either mean overpaying for someone else or getting no one. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

My suspicion is that Presti and co trust Reggie as a professional and intend to match any reasonable offer for him in restricted free agency next summer, but who knows?
You're right on the new TV deal. I didn't think about that. But I'd imagine that will only inflate the value of players who already max out the current max contract (the KD's of the world). It'll be interesting to see if that trickles down to the entire roster, and if so to what extent. I agree that Reggie commands $10-13 million, but I still think that if anyone goes higher than that then we wouldn't be considered cheap for not matching it. Although if Reggie is honestly open to remaining on the bench, and just wants a nice pay raise, then I would prefer to keep our roster intact. Roster turnover only ruins team chemistry. And he may very well have his chance at the starting spot within the next couple years if Russ decides to bolt home to LA. That seems to be the one potential FA move I hear people bring up the most, unfortunately.