The Oklahoma City Thunder have done what they needed to do, extending all of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams this summer.
The Thunder’s young core are all under contract for the next half-decade, making up to $822 million combined.
Get ready to learn the second apron, Thunder fans.
Because of these massive extensions — which started with Gilgeous-Alexander becoming the highest-paid NBA player ever, followed by Holmgren inking a $250 million rookie maximum, and finalized by Williams landing a five-year rookie max of his own worth up to $287 million — general manager Sam Presti is putting his money where his mouth is.
The Thunder clearly believe that this young nucleus could win multiple NBA titles together. Now, they will have to. Because it will be tremendously difficult for the Thunder to improve via trades.
The second apron is real. In short, it’s a spending threshold that triggers extremely severe penalties for teams that exceed it. It makes it harder on teams who are looking to stack superstars. But inadvertently, it also makes it hard for teams who have developed and extended their own homegrown players to improve.
Just ask the Boston Celtics, who had to blow up a good chunk of their team when Jayson Tatum went down with a ruptured Achilles in the NBA playoffs.
Why did they move off Jrue Holiday? Why ship out Kristaps Porzingis for practically nothing? All while seemingly allowing savvy veteran Al Horford walk in free agency? It’s because the penalties are not worth it for the Celtics, who are unlikely to be competitive next year without Tatum.
Also ask the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have an owner in Dan Gilbert who has been notoriously willing to spend big if it meant competing for the NBA championship, dipping into the luxury tax nearly every season when LeBron James returned to town.
The Cavs have been unable to get out of the second round of the NBA playoffs. Many around the league are asking if their “core four” of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland could ever win a championship together. But since the Cavs find themselves in the second apron, they are constrained with what they can do with this roster. They cannot aggregate salaries via trade. They cannot stack two-for-one player trades.
It’s not that these teams have done anything wrong. The Celtics won a championship with Tatum and Brown, two players they drafted, and Holiday, who they made a resourceful trade for. Same story in Cleveland, who drafted Garland and Mobley, while making smart trades and extensions for Mitchell and Allen.
There’s no denying that Presti made the right decision here. After winning an NBA title, you absolutely have to do whatever it takes in order to run it back and defend your throne.
But if the trio of Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams does not work well together long term? It will be tremendously difficult for the Thunder to navigate their future.
Good thing they still have approximately one million first-round NBA draft picks through 2031.
