Luke Ridnour is on the move yet again. When the Oklahoma City Thunder selected guard Cameron Payne from Murray State in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft, trade possibilities were likely to follow. When Payne was drafted, OKC had a total of four point guards on their roster. That’s far too many. In order to cut their loses then, Oklahoma City traded Ridnour to the Toronto Raptors earlier today for the rights to Tomislav Zubcic and a $2.85 million trade exception.

The rights for Zubcic are pointless for now, but what is interesting is the $2.85 million trade exception that the Thunder did receive. This exception does expire at the end of the year, but it also gives OKC many different possibilities down the road. It basically means that when a future complex trade happens, the Thunder can receive up to a $2.85 million difference.

It’s like this.

When a trade first happens in the NBA, both teams have to give up the same amount of salary in order to make it work. The only difference now is that OKC can acquire someone in a trade that costs up to $2.85 million without having to give anyone up in return. It just gives them much more flexibility when trying to trade. Hence, the exception.

The Thunder will be looking to compete at the highest level next year, so it only makes sense that they try to acquire trade assets to bolster their lineup. When last season began, the Cleveland Cavaliers altered their makeup as they acquired both LeBron James and Kevin Love. In the middle of the season, they acquired the talents of Iman Shumpert, Timofey Mozgov and JR Smith in order to complete their run to the Finals in 2015.

OKC has altered their makeup in the coaching department this offseason, and now they open up the possibility to acquire another player to complement the superstar talents of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. This won’t be the last trade OKC makes for their run next year, but it’s close. Stay tuned for one more deal in the near future.

Samuel Martell is Oklahoma City’s beat writer at www.RantSports.com. To stay connected, ‘follow’ him on Twitter, ‘like’ him on Facebook, or ‘add’ him to your network on Google.