The Oklahoma City Thunder are an organization and a team that almost everyone in the NBA would love to be.
But that’s about to get quite costly. OKC is speeding toward a $500 million dilemma.
It’s a classic situation where in many ways it could be described as a good problem to have.
Against the NBA’s current salary cap rules and all the apron implications in the cap code, though, the Thunder could find themselves backed into a corner.
OKC Thunder Cap Concerns
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst wrote about the Thunder and some of their potential worries in a new article on Friday.
The discussion was warranted in part because they just gave Cason Wallace a contract extension worth a total of $139 million.
“The move wasn’t surprising because the Thunder don’t let players get to restricted free agency; they either extend their contract or trade them,” Windhorst wrote of that contract.
But the money does start to add up, and Windhorst did some math.
“You might have heard about how expensive the Thunder’s roster could become next season, but you likely haven’t heard the true depth of it,” Windhorst writes. “The Thunder are currently looking at about a $250 million payroll and about $200 million in projected luxury tax, a $450 million overall total.”
There’s more math still to do, too.
“That ($450 million) doesn’t include the three first-round picks the Thunder own for the 2027 draft, including the LA Clippers‘ pick,” Windhorst writes. “If you use ESPN’s preseason NBA Power Rankings as a guide, you could project the Thunder to have three picks next June — Nos. 4 (Clippers), 23 (Nuggets) and 29 (Spurs). For the sake of demonstration, let’s say it falls that way. OKC has team options on Nikola Topic, Thomas Sorber and Jaylin Williams. The Thunder won’t keep all the picks and the players; otherwise, they’d exceed the roster cap. They are facing a roughly $500 million payroll in 2027-28, including tax, following the draft.”
Someone is going to have to go, and probably multiple someones.
Thunder Decisions Loom
The Thunder actually have two option decisions that they have to make by Nov. 2.
“League executives are watching whether the Thunder pick up options on Topic and Sorber for next season by the Nov. 2 deadline,” Windhorst writes. “Both players have dealt with health issues and are set to earn a combined $12 million next season, and that will cost Oklahoma City more than $60 million in added tax. Not picking up one or both could be level-setting as the Thunder manage this challenge.”
The Thunder are going to have to cut costs somewhere. While Topic and Sorber both have some potential, they probably can’t be justified to keep in the face of a $500 million outlay.
OKC Thunder Speeding Toward $500 Million Problem