Theis was moved this week from the aforementioned Pelicans to the Thunder in a move intended, for New Orleans at least, purely to save money. (They were on course to pay luxury take for those 12 wins.) With his rugged play, solid defense and occasional outside shooting, he is a useful veteran depth big that any team would benefit from, which in large part explains why he is now passed around so much. And this is in theory true of the Thunder, too, especially with the continuing fragility of Chet Holmgren.

However, for all their quality, the Thunder are bristling against the limits of a well-established roster spot problem, and while this is largely an issue for the future (given their plethora of outstanding draft capital), it is also something they are facing now. They want to have a spot available on their main roster with which they can convert breakout rookie Ajay Mitchell’s contract from a two-way deal to a full one, and there is no one else on the roster who would be an obvious cut. Since Theis is in the way of them doing that, therefore, he does not need to stick around; he came with a draft pick swap and cash attached, so the trade with the Pelicans would stand on those merits already. Theis has therefore been waived, and seems a good candidate to be picked up again quickly to fulfil the 2020 Markieff Morris role.