The entire NBA wanted to pounce on the Oklahoma City Thunder after Kevin Durant left the team to join the Golden State Warriors.
However, when Russell Westbrook signed the extension with the Thunder, the game quickly changed as the hunted has now become the hunter. Instead of the other teams trying to poach Westbrook, the Thunder will now be shopping the market for Westbrook's new partner.
Blake Griffin has already been discussed even before Westbrook signed his extension, but despite Griffin having a player option, the onus is still on the Thunder to convince him that they could be a better team than the Clippers were (the hometown card is not enough anymore).
According to Jesus Gomez of SB Nation, the Thunder can have enough cap space to sign a max player at the end of the 2017 season.
The Thunder will have a max player in Westbrook, of course but they still have enough cap space since they will only have $63 million on the books, according to Spotrac.com.
The Thunder could create up to $40 million in cap space if they renounce all of its free agents and that would be enough to offer more than just one max player. The latest cap space projection was pegged at $102 million.
Three of those free agents, though, are Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo and Andre Roberson, players whom the Thunder would want (actually, need) to keep. But they can keep the players' low cap holds and sign them later when the Thunder can go over the cap.
But that is still not enough. The three players' cap holds amount to $26 million, and that would only get the Thunder about $13 million below the cap. To reach max level, they need to trade Enes Kanter and Kyle Singler. Also, the team should not pick up Mitch McGary's and Josh Huestis' options.
These are not as difficult as it sounds. If Golden State managed to carve out space for Durant, the Thunder can definitely find takers for Kanter and Singler.
Aside from Blake Griffin, other notable targets are Paul Millsap and Gordon Hayward. Millsap easily becomes a worthy partner for Westbrook, maybe a better fit than Griffin since he doesn't demand the ball that much. Hayward can also take over Durant's small forward position. Both players can complement the ball-heavy play of Westbrook.
This is still a longshot, but the balance of power can change in 2017 and with Westbrook, the Thunder has a legitimate MVP candidate to build around on. Not too many teams in the league can boast that.