Following the Thunder's second-round loss to the Grizzlies, one player under the microscope is Kendrick Perkins, whose postseason stat sheet featured as many turnovers (24) as points (24) and nearly as many fouls (39) as rebounds (41). With two years and about $18.63MM left on his contract, Perkins would appear to be a prime amnesty candidate, but GM Sam Presti doesn't seem to be seriously weighing that option.
"We just haven't considered using the provision," Presti said, according to Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman (Twitter link). "We think Perk has a lot of value to our team."
Besides Perkins, the Thunder still have three more amnesty-eligible players on the roster. Kevin Durant, of course, won't be amnestied, and Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha appear unlikely candidates as well, considering they're both on inexpensive deals and continue to contribute positive minutes.
That leaves Perkins as the most logical candidate, though Oklahoma City could always let its amnesty provision go unused. If Perkins were to be amnestied, the Thunder would need to find another frontcourt player in addition to paying Perkins. Clearing the big man's $8.98MM cap hit also wouldn't create much, if any, cap space to sign a replacement, since the team already projects to be well over the cap next season.
We'll see what happens when this year's amnesty week begins on July 10th, but for now it looks like Perkins will stay put. Assuming he remains in Oklahoma City for all of next season, he'd be amnesty-eligible one more time in July 2014.
They should take up the offer from Shaw to work with him, a beef him up. He can still be a force in this League