Thunder Utilizes Stretch Provision, Waives Kyle Singler

And so it is — the Kyle Singler era is officially over in Oklahoma City.

Per a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder has utilized the stretch provision and will waive the 30-year-old small forward. As such, the team will save $23.4 million in salary and luxury tax by ridding itself of Singler’s $5 million salary for 2018-19. The tax bill falls from $93.1 million to $73.8 million with this one move alone.

Financial details of the move via ESPN’s Bobby Marks:

“The Thunder will incur a $992K cap hit over the next five seasons on Singler and would receive a minor set-off if the forward signs with another team. The Thunder benefit based on the ability of using the 2019-20 season that was non-guaranteed as part of the stretch provision. With the Carmelo Anthony trade to Atlanta and now the Singler waiver, Oklahoma City has saved $89.5M in salary and luxury tax since July 15.”

Seems like a no-brainer — even if Singler could have potentially been used as trade filler before the deadline. And because there were two seasons left on his deal (with 2019-20 being non-guaranteed), the Thunder can pay the remaining $5 million over the course of the next five years. That’s a definite win.

Acquired from the Detroit Pistons at the 2015 trade deadline, Singler never (I mean, ever) panned out in Oklahoma City. He appeared in 138 games for the Thunder over four seasons, averaging 3.2 points per game in 13.6 minutes per contest. His 37.8 percent field goal percentage in OKC was abysmal — but not nearly as bad as his 30.6 percent clip from downtown. After shooting 37.9 percent from distance during his time in Detroit, his complete and total lack of effectiveness after being dealt was somewhat beyond comprehension. It’s like the kid from ThunderStruck stole his talents and never returned them.

Although today’s move was necessary and long-expected, we wish Singler the very best moving forward. Let us all remember the good times — like when Russ nearly smacked the man-bun off his head last season in Mexico.

Thanks for the memories, Kyle.