The Thunder has to be open to change. Such is the life of an expensive team which has gone 4-12 in the playoffs in the last three seasons.

It’s why it should be no surprise that Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder and Andre Roberson have been mentioned as possible trade pieces. General manager Sam Presti said the Thunder will look to "try to balance out the team throughout the summer," and Nerlens Noel is a part of that balancing act.

Free agency opens on Sunday at 5 p.m. As the Thunder’s most valuable free agent, Noel could shift the core of the team if re-signed.

Noel has until Saturday to decline his bargain $1.98 million player option for 2019-20, which he’ll likely do with confidence he’ll get better offers in free agency. Fourteen of the 30 teams are projected to have salary cap space, which is good for Noel. But a collection of league executives polled by The Oklahoman had a wide range on Noel’s value — from $7 million to the veteran’s minimum ($1.8 million, less than he made this season). A reasonable annual salary for Noel may top out at the taxpayer’s mid-level exception ($5.7 million) — the same deal the Thunder gave Patrick Patterson in 2017 (three years, $16.3 million).