Oklahoma City Thunder: Assessing the worst 3 contracts on the roster

The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the 2019 playoffs following another underwhelming regular-season, although few envisioned the franchise losing their instrumental All-Star pairing.

Paul George sent the Thunder spinning towards a rebuild after he stunned the organization with a trade request, and Russell Westbrook quickly followed the MVP nominee out of the door. The decision to trade Westbrook and George yielded the Thunder with a record haul of future draft picks, although the franchises days of contending are now over.

General Manager Sam Presti plans to build around young talents such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Terrance Ferguson, although the Thunder's ongoing rebuild may be delayed by several bad deals on the roster. So, ahead of the 2019-20 season, here we will look at the three worst deals on the OKC roster.

#3 Dennis Schroder

Dennis Schroder joined the Oklahoma City Thunder last summer in the deal for Carmelo Anthony

Dennis Schroder joined the Thunder last summer as part of the deal that sent Carmelo Anthony to the Hawks. Schroder had established himself as an important player during his five seasons in Atlanta, although the point guard was traded after publicly criticizing the direction of the franchise.

Due to his outspoken nature, some questioned how the 25-year-old would react to playing backup Oklahoma City, although Schroder embraced his new role and averaged 15.5 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.6 rebounds in just under 30 minutes per contest.

However, despite the departure of Westbrook, Schroder is still expected to play backup to the promising Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the German is owed more than $30 million over the next two seasons. Ultimately, Schroder's production from the bench is no longer a luxury that the Thunder need, and Presti will be keen to offload the point guard before the trade deadline.

#2 Steven Adams

Steven Adams has spent his entire career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and while he has established himself as a key player, there is a prevailing feeling that the Kiwi has yet to live up to his potential.

While a regular starter since the 14-15 season, Adams came to prominence during the 2016 playoffs, as he was instrumental at both ends of the court during the Thunder's run to the Western Conference Finals. Just a few months later, OklahomaCity signed Adams to a new $100 million contract, and many tipped the center to develop into an All-Star.

However, Adams' development has stagnated, and while the 26-year-old remains among the better bigs in the NBA, it is doubtful that he will play a pivotal part for the Thunder going forward. As a rebuilding team, it makes little sense for OKC to pay Adams $52 million over the next two seasons, and if a taker can be found, Presti will likely execute a trade.

#1 Chris Paul

Chris Paul's contract is among the worst in recent NBA history

When the Houston Rockets penned Chris Paul to an enormous $160 million extension last summer, Daryl Morey was aware that he was overpaying for an aging star. Nevertheless, CP3's extension appeared to put the Rockets in a position to compete with the Warriors, and Morey hoped that his calculated risk would result in a title.

However, the relationship between James Harden and Paul quickly deteriorated, and the Rockets general manager soon found himself looking to offload the NBA's worst contract. Oklahoma City was eventually foolish enough to take on the remaining three-years of Pauls contract, although that the decision owed much to the franchises promise to help Westbrook find his preferred landing spot.

Nevertheless, the Thunder now find themselves with an injury-prone 34-year-old who has averaged less than 60 games over the past three campaigns. The former All-Star will earn $44 million in his age-36 season, and it remains to be seen if Presti can somehow offload the fading star.