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The Bricktown Brief · Rumor check

Rumor Check: What's Confirmed, What's Still Open

Three roster additions are locked in; Presti's remarks and two summer exits still carry low confidence scores.

$216.2MPayrollpast first apron and tax line
40Presti Interviewconfidence score, no concrete plans
23Tilly Contractconfidence score, deal already signed
24Waters Departureconfidence score, open status still
By the Thunder Nightly Desk · Saturday, October 3

Oklahoma City's three September 26 roster additions are confirmed, while a Presti interview and two earlier moves still carry open status and confidence scores no higher than 40. None of it touches the money: the payroll already sits past the first apron and the luxury tax line.

$216.2M: Payroll

Cap Position First

Payroll stands at $216.2 million, past the $209.0 million first apron and past the $200.4 million luxury tax line. Holmgren and Williams each carry a $41.5 million cap hit, Gilgeous-Alexander sits at $40.8 million, and Hartenstein adds $23.1 million; together those four contracts already account for more than half the books. That position limits trade exceptions and caps the midlevel exception available to Presti's front office. Any rumor involving a trade target has to clear that cap sheet before it clears anything else, and none of the four reports tracked here involves one, at least not yet.

Two Low-Confidence Reports

A September 25 report from Baxter Holmes on general manager Sam Presti's interview carries a confidence score of 40 and remains open, since Presti discussed the offseason and the roster's path forward without attaching specific plans. Christoph Tilly's Exhibit 10 contract rates lower, at 23, even though the contract itself was signed back on September 14; a confidence score that low on an already-completed move shows how much uncertainty these two reports still carry.

One Confirmed, One Exit

Three same-day signings from September 26 are confirmed: guards Robert McCray and Zhaire Smith, plus forward Andrew Holifield, arrived in a report that also covered moves by the Kings, Jazz and Nuggets. McCray and Holifield are both entering their rookie season on this roster, while Smith is already in year two; none of the three has a defined role beyond that. Lindy Waters' exit for Beijing Ducks carries the lowest confidence score of the group, at 24, and still shows an open status months after it was first reported.

Are the Thunder's new roster additions confirmed?

Yes. Robert McCray, Zhaire Smith and Andrew Holifield all joined the roster in a report dated September 26, though none has a defined role yet.

Is Christoph Tilly guaranteed a regular roster spot?

No. His Exhibit 10 contract, signed September 14, carries a confidence score of just 23 and remains open on whether it converts into a full roster spot.

By the Thunder Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.

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