The Old Gang Again, Steaming for Another Year

Because of that damn luxury tax, Presti had almost sent Reddish packing. But in the end, after considering the team's depth, he decided to keep him.

No matter what, Reddish was still a solid on-ball defender...

Sure, his basketball IQ was a little low, he wasn't great at handling the ball, his help defense was only so-so, and his shot wasn't very accurate~~

But for less than five million, what more could you ask for?!

Did they really think they could get a Wade or Little Gasol every year—elite players willing to take minimum contracts like they had a few years ago?

In the end, after settling on the main rotation for the new season, Presti hastily signed two two-way contracts with a couple of nobodies to fill out the 13-man roster.

And so, the Thunder Team's roster for next season was officially set.

Guards: Chen Xi, Russell Westbrook, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Desmond Bane, Quentin Grimes

Forwards: Anthony Davis, Jeff Green, Nicolas Batum, Cam Reddish, LaMarcus Aldridge (Two-way)

Centers: DeAndre Jordan, Daniel Gafford, Tony Roen (Two-way)

Aside from the two players on two-way contracts and rookie Grimes, nearly everyone on the roster was returning from last season.

The upside was that the guys already knew each other well, so they would likely get back into last season's groove quickly as they built chemistry at the start of the season.

The downside was that the team's overall strength hadn't changed.

Forget getting stronger—they'd even gotten a little weaker...

And then there was this.

In the end, the Thunder were also constrained by their salary situation and couldn't reach a new contract agreement with Melo, Carmelo Anthony.

After putting up a decent performance last season and successfully reinventing himself, Anthony had managed to raise his value again.

When the Thunder couldn't offer him