The Oklahoma City Thunder are rebuilding. That isn't a secret to anybody at this point. They continue to amass an impressive war chest of draft picks and young players that they believe will help them make a triumphant return as a championship contender within a few years time.

But for the 2022 NBA offseason, the Thunder have kept a fairly low profile. They made most of their big moves during the 2022 NBA Draft, as they ended up with three of the top twelve picks in the draft. That draft class, headlined by highly touted prospect Chet Holmgrem, should help them start to turn things around as soon as this upcoming season.

Oklahoma City's general manager Sam Presti has been extremely diligent in conducting this rebuild, and so far, he hasn't really made a defining bad move. But there have been a couple of questionable moves from the Thunder this offseason, with the worst involving a promising young player get let go of for nothing in return. Let's take a look at this confusing move which will unsurprisingly go down as their worst of the 2022 NBA offseason.

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Oklahoma City Thunder's worst offseason move: releasing Isaiah Roby

Isaiah Roby entered the NBA without many expectations, which typically is what happens when you are a second round pick. Roby was drafted by the Detroit Pistons before quickly being traded to the Dallas Mavericks. He spent two seasons with the Texas Legends, Dallas' G-League affiliate, before eventually getting traded to the Thunder.

Roby probably couldn't have found himself on a better team than Oklahoma City, at least when it came to his development. They were looking to give their young players as many minutes as possible as they looked to see who could help them go from a rebuilding team back to a playoff squad.

With those minutes, Roby was able to establish a spot for himself in the Thunder's rotation. He's coming off a fairly successful 2021-22 campaign in which he averaged 10.1 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game in a little over 20 minutes of action per contest. Roby started 28 of the 45 contests he played in last season, and showed that he has the potential to become a starter at some point down the line.

Roby's numbers are admittedly nothing to write home about, but he's only 24 years old and finally appeared to be finding his footing in the league after spending most of his first three seasons in the G-League. He showed improvements in three-point shooting and defense during his two seasons with the Thunder in the NBA that proved he could be a solid bench piece if nothing more on a playoff contender.

But when the Thunder were faced with guaranteeing Isaiah Roby's $1.9 million salary next season, which they had previously picked up the option on, they decided against it, and released him instead. The San Antonio Spurs, another rebuilding team looking for young talent, quickly pounced on Roby and added him to their roster.

Many fans were quick to wonder why the Thunder would just cut Roby rather than keep him around to see if he fits their plans down the line. After all, they made the decision to exercise his option earlier, but then changed course and cut him instead.

It's not as if the Thunder are strapped for cash either, and they certainly could have afforded to pay Roby's $1.9 million salary to see if he can continue to grow. Roby certainly showed enough improvement over the past two seasons to make the Thunder believe he could continue to develop, but apparantly they had other plans.

Maybe the Thunder want to see what their new crew of first rounders can do, and decided they wouldn't have enough minutes to go around for Roby. But even then, why not ink him to a deal and then explore a trade for him? He wouldn't net much in return admittedly, but rather than letting him go to another rebuilding Western Conference team for nothing in return, they could have picked up another asset or two to help them push their rebuild further along.

The fact that losing a bench piece like Roby for nothing is the Thunder's worst offseason move is telling. But when you are rebuilding, you can't afford to let anything go to waste, and by releasing Roby out of the blue, they let him walk without getting anything in return. It may seem minor, but that's how it works when you are building your way up from the bottom.

Isaiah Roby may not have factored into the Thunder's future plans, but that doesn't mean other teams feel the same way. By releasing him and getting nothing in return, the Thunder have just thrown away a potential asset that could have helped them progress their rebuild, even if it was in a smaller deal. For that reason, this clearly will go down as their worst move of the 2022 NBA offseason.