Summary

Nader had a chance to establish himself this season as the best wing option for the Thunder, who seem to perpetually struggle to find reliable wing depth. However, Nader was unable to seize that role and prove he can stay in the league. He did show some improvement, finishing better at the rim and hitting a respectable 37% from three, according to Cleaning the Glass, but the sample size is likely too small to trust.

 

Nader is on the older side, as he will already be going into this age-27 season, so it's more likely than not that Nader is who he is at this point, which is a minimum-player that can give you some spot minutes at best.

 

Cap Considerations

The Thunder have a team option on Nader's $1.8 million salary for the '20-'21 season. If his team option is declined, Nader will become a restricted free agent with a $2 million cap hold and Qualifying Offer. However, if the Thunder decline his option, this likely means they are fine with Nader leaving in free agency, and will not tender him the Qualifying Offer.

 

There are times (like Nikola Jokic in 2018), when a team declines a fourth-year option in order to have restricted rights rather than having the player hit unrestricted free agency after the fourth year, but this is not one of those time. Nader will then become an unrestricted free agency. The Thunder would still have full Bird Rights on Nader, and could bring him back, but if they decline his option and decide to make him an unrestricted free agent, it will mean they no longer have interest in his services.

 

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Nader as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer, Taxpayer, or the Room Mid-Level Exception to sign him. There's also a real possibility Nader will only be able to fetch a minimum offer this summer.