Bernucca: Small Market Dilemma is the NBA’s Big Lie

And Thunder fans had to hope Presti wasn’t losing his edge when he answered, “We just haven’t considered using the provision. … We think Perk has a lot of value to our team.”

Perkins, 28, averaged 4.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks this season, his lowest numbers since he was not of legal drinking age. In the postseason, he provided next to nothing, relegated to watching his teammates duel the Rockets at small ball before collecting 12 points and 18 fouls while being unable to slow down Grizzlies big men Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, which presumably is his value to the Thunder.

Perkins has two years totaling $17.6 million remaining on his contract. The Thunder already are committed to $66 million in salary next season, and that does not include free agent Kevin Martin.

Yes, the Thunder would still have to pay Perkins if they used the amnesty provision. But his salary would not count against the salary cap or the luxury tax, giving Presti instant flexibility to re-sign Martin, bring in another free agent with their exceptions or work a sign-and-trade.

If Presti had used the amnesty provision on Perkins last summer, he would have been able to keep James Harden instead of making a trade he will regret for a long time, all for maintaining a “sustainable team.”

Here’s a question Presti should have been asked: In this postseason, whom would you have rather had – Perkins and Martin, or Harden and Nazr Mohammed? How about the next postseason? And the one after that?

And in case you are wondering if the Thunder are erasing their profit margin by adding dead money or raising their payroll into tax territory, consider that they made a staggering $29.9 million last season and played to 100 percent capacity at Chesapeake Energy Arena this season.

Maybe Presti, with his reliance on advanced metrics, sees something in Perkins we don’t. Maybe he is waiting until next summer, when Thabo Sefolosha ($3.9 million) comes off the cap, giving the Thunder some real room. Or maybe he doesn’t want to admit that giving Perkins $36 million over four years to set screens was a mistake.

But if Presti or Clay Bennett or any GM or owner of any NBA team tells his fan base that they cannot afford a player, keep in mind that their lips are moving.

TRIVIA: Harrison Barnes scored 25-plus points in consecutive playoff games. Who was the last rookie to do that? Answer below.

THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: In the last 11 years, a team nicknamed the Hornets has played in Charlotte, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and appears to be returning to Charlotte again.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, on closing out a playoff series:

“Nobody talks about getting this over with like you’ve got a rash, like you can take a pill or put some cream on it, (then) it’s going to be gone. This is a war.”

LINE OF THE WEEK: Zach Randolph, Memphis at Oklahoma City, May 15: 41 minutes, 8-17 FGs, 12-16 FTs, 14 rebounds, two assists, two steals, one turnover, 28 points in an 88-84 win. We’ll give Randolph a mulligan for missing potential clinching free throws with 11 seconds left because he had his best game of the postseason in a clincher on the road.