Oklahoma City Thunder uses Late Round Draft Pick on Huestis to sneak under the Salary Cap #RESM560V

In a relatively unknown move this past June in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder continued their trend of picking draft picks based upon both a performance basis and a financial basis. With the 29th pick in the 2014 Draft, the Thunder selected Josh Huestis of Stanford University, who was projected by many as a 2nd to 3rd round pick. It left many Thunder fans like myself, asking who the heck is this guy and why did the Thunder draft him? Knowing the history of General Manager Sam Presti, I knew it was probably more of a business decision than anything. He was a solid defender in college, had a high basketball IQ, and also had a great personality. With other draft picks available with greater basketball potential, why did they choose Huestis?

It would not be until Huestis signed his contract that we would find out the reasoning behind this draft pick. The head scratcher here was that Huestis did not sign his guaranteed rookie contract of $1.5 million with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Instead, he signed a $25,000 contract with the Thunder’s D-League Team. So why did Huestis turn down a guaranteed $1.5 million contract? Huestis was a projected 2nd to 3rd round pick. He was probably not going to make guaranteed money. Instead, Huestis probably made a mutual agreement (illegal according to NBA bylaws) with the Thunder to turn down his guaranteed $1.5 million rookie contract and sign a D-League contract for $25,000.

This resulted in the Thunder to remain under the luxury tax threshold by $1.8 million, almost exactly Huestis’ rookie contract. The Thunder probably told Huestis that they would pay him his guaranteed money in his 2nd year because rookie contracts at that pick are guaranteed for two years, but it is still risky for Huestis because the Thunder don’t have to hold there end of the deal up. Instead, this year Huestis will rely upon a $25,000 D-League salary and hopefully lots of appearance fees with the Thunder for a little extra cash. There is risk and reward for both parties, but time will tell how this plays out.

This creates an interesting precedent for NBA teams. Instead of using late round draft picks on potential talent that they are not sure of, teams can select projected 2nd or 3rd round players so that they will turn down their guaranteed contracts in their first year, in hopes of receiving their guaranteed money in the second year. This strategy is able to save teams money and also give a projected 2nd or 3rd round player a chance to make 1st round money. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the 2015 NBA Draft and if NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will address this type of strategy.

This story was written for the graduate course Sports Media and Public Relations at the University of Arkansas.