Due to the massive investment the Oklahoma City Thunder made in three key members of their core this summer, a notable NBA expert suggests they might shop a pair of key players from their title team before next season's NBA trade deadline.
The Thunder are still in honeymoon mode after the team brought the city its first NBA Championship in June. In an attempt to go on multiple title runs in the next few years, the organization spent record sums to lock up its young core.
This summer, OKC gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a new four-year, $272 million extension. Locked Jalen Williams into a new five-year, $239 million pact. And surprisingly gave big man Chet Holmgren the same deal they gave Williams. While it keeps linchpins of the roster on the team through the decade, there is a payroll reckoning on the horizon.
On Friday, The Athletic NBA expert Zach Harper took a look at next year's free agent market. Two players who have team options after next season are stud defenders Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort . They will combine for $46 million next season and again in 2026 ($28.5 million for Hartenstein and $18.2 million for Dort annually). While that number was fine a year ago, the team's payroll will balloon from $193 million next season to $277 million in 2026-27. Due to the recent extensions.
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Could the Thunder maintain the status quo and hold on to everyone the next two years? Yes, and Harper believes that is a real possibility. But he also brought up another important point.
"This gets interesting because the world champion Thunder have to figure out some cap stuff as these extensions kick in for Chet Holmgren , Jalen Williams, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2026 and beyond. I would expect OKC is more likely to trade those guys for assets," Harper wrote.
The Thunder have never been a big spending franchise. And the fact that they gave out three huge extensions in one summer is a major show of how willing they are to expand payroll. However, going up to $277 million before tax penalties seems far out of the norm for the team. It is why it makes sense that the organization could seriously consider moving them before February's trade deadline, or next summer.
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