Jerami Grant Returning to Thunder on 3-Year, $27 Million Deal
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Jerami Grant has agreed to a 3-year, $27 million contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The deal reportedly carries a player option on the final season.
Oklahoma City forward Jerami Grant has agreed to a three-year, $27M contract to return to the Thunder, league sources told ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2018
On a night that will be remembered for Paul George committing to the Thunder on a shocking 4-year max deal, bringing Grant back into the fold is a silent victory for Sam Presti and the Thunder organization. The 24-year-old forward has made great strides during his two seasons in Oklahoma City, and he figures to play a big part in where the team goes from here. He averaged 8.4 points and 3.9 rebounds off the bench last season, seeing his playing time increase in the playoffs versus Utah. Depending on what happens with Carmelo Anthony, he may very well end up in the starting lineup if the end of the 2017-18 campaign was any indication.
While the salary cap implications of bringing Grant back are ugly (I haven’t even dug into all that yet), the Thunder organization is clearly comfortable with spending massive amounts of cash in hopes of building a contender around George and Russell Westbrook. Presti is certainly living that “Scared Money Don’t Make None” lifestyle at the moment — it will be interesting to see what he does next.
Update: Predictably messy cap situation. Let’s worry about all that tomorrow.
With Paul George and Jerami Grant on board, Oklahoma City now has a payroll of $156M with 11 players under contract. Because of the repeater tax penalty, the Thunder currently have a tax bill of $130M. The tax bill would be the largest in NBA history.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2018
