Hamidou Diallo Agrees to 3-Year, $4 Million Contract with Thunder
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder will sign second-round pick Hamidou Diallo to a 3-year, $4 million dollar contract. The deal gives Oklahoma City 15 guaranteed contracts ahead of next season — however, more moves are likely on the way.
Second-round pick Hamidou Diallo of Kentucky will sign a 3-year, $4M deal with Oklahoma City, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 25, 2018
Diallo was selected 45th overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2018 NBA Draft but had his rights purchased by the Thunder on draft night. He went on to impress in Vegas Summer League, averaging 10.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in just under 20 minutes per game. While he’s still extremely raw, his elite athleticism and upside made today’s news somewhat of a foregone conclusion. With him being under contract for the next three seasons, he has time to develop into the steal many believe he ultimately could become.
Some Summer League highlights from a 19-point effort against the Nets:
The salary cap implications of today’s news via ESPN’s Bobby Marks:
“Oklahoma City saves money by signing second round pick Hamidou Diallo and not signing a player to a veteran minimum contract. Diallo will come in at a cap hit of $838K and push the payroll in Oklahoma City to $149.6M and a current luxury tax bill of $93.2M. Signing a player with a cap hit of $1.5M would have cost Oklahoma City an additional $3.5M towards the luxury tax. The Thunder now have 16 players under contract, including Deonte Burton who was signed to a Two-Way contract.”
As for the moves coming from Presti and the Thunder, Royce Young mentioned on Twitter that Kyle Singler is expected to be moved/waived in the coming weeks. The deadline for using the stretch provision is August 31. Stretching Singler ahead of that date would save the Thunder roughly $14 million in tax and salary next season if he’s replaced with a minimum contract.
