SALT LAKE CITY-Numerous reports confirm the Utah Jazz will trade small forward Olumiye Oni to the Oklahoma City Thunder along with a 2028 second round draft pick.
If Utah waived Oni outright, the tax bill would have been $30.3M.
By not having a dead cap hit, tax penalty gets reduced to $27.9M.
$2.4M in savings from the trade
Similar to the Valentine trade with NYK but instead of OKC getting cash, they get a 2nd rd. pick. https://t.co/kPKN8HDToA
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) January 4, 2022
This move saves the Jazz money in luxury tax payments as the franchise has already exceeded the luxury tax limit.
It promises to save the Jazz roughly $2.4 million in making the trade.
The Thunder plan to waive Oni after the deal is complete, per Wojnarowski.
Oni, a 2019 second-round draft pick out of Yale, averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game for the Jazz.
Oni fell out of the rotation as Trent Forrest began to take his playing time. Forrest is playing 8.1 minutes this season for the Jazz, averaging 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per contest.
Oni has only appeared in 16 games this season for the Jazz, averaging 0.3 points per contest.
The deal has opened up a roster spot for the Jazz.
