The Oklahoma City Thunder are chasing down one of the final NBA postseason spots this season. Despite their lowly preseason predictions, the OKC Thunder have seen their young core bust onto the scene. The Thunder sit with a 38-41 record, clinging to the tenth seed in the Western Conference, and have yet to see a single top-five pick grace the hardwood for the organization.
Over the weekend, the NBA and their Players Association agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which has historically not favored the OKC Thunder. Each of the past agreements has had loop whole, clauses, cap spikes, and more to harm the Thunder’s rebuild or ability to sustain success. However, the Third time appears to be the charm, as on the surface, the OKC Thunder look to benefit significantly from the changes made to the league’s CBA.
Three ways the OKC Thunder benefit from the New National Basketball Association Collective Bargaining Agreement, from roster spots to financial clauses and awards.
The League’s new CBA includes many topics, and full details are not yet out. This covers the Mid-season tournament addition, the ability for players to dip into the gambling world, an announcement that the league will stop testing for Marijuana, and even new rules regarding prospects having to share medical information with teams at the NBA Draft Combine.
The OKC Thunder are building a special core, but will they be able to keep the band together?
As the Oklahoma City Thunder continue to put the pieces of Sam Presti’s Puzzle together, there is a tiny little voice in the back of every OKC Thunder fan head whispering, “How is the team going to keep everyone?” A common worry of small market teams.
The OKC Thunder have already inked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a max contract, and if Jalen Williams continues to play this way, he will be in line for one as well. That does not even include how good people expect Chet Holmgren to be and the progress you can project for Josh Giddey, who has improved year after year.
That is a lot of mouths to feed on and off the floor for the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, things got a bit easier with this new CBA for the Thunder. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the league has agreed to “eliminate restrictions limiting a team to two designated super-max players. This would have a huge impact for Cavs, who have Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on super max deals and Evan Mobley approaching rookie extension.”
While Woj uses the Cavs as the example here, swap Cavs for “Thunder” and the players listed on the Cavs for the Thunder players listed above, and you can see how important this will end up being for Oklahoma City.
The ability to keep Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey, and the band together is a massive win for the Thunder, who continue to draft and develop at a high clip.
The Oklahoma City Thunder can also benefit from changes to the NBA end-of-season Award and Honors.
The NBA is in the middle of one of its best seasons ever. The Standings are tight, the award races are tighter, and no one knows who will hoist that beautiful Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. This parity, this uncertainty, is what the league thrives on.
After years of fans complaining about predictability, legitimate arguments exist for the teams sitting in the 6th and 7th seeds to go on a miraculous title run.
The MVP race is not only close but bitter. Who will it be? Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid? People not only have opinions but are going to war with those opinions. We usually know who will win these awards with a week left in the season, but not this year.
The League is changing the award season under the new CBA, putting the games played requirement on the end-of-season honors set at 65 games in an attempt to curb load management.
Along with that, the league is doing away with positions on the All-NBA teams and honors along those lines. That is excellent news for the OKC Thunder, who are building a position-less team.
It is perfect for Jalen Williams in four or five years. Williams, he played backup point guard, shooting guard, small forward, and center this season while being the team’s starting power forward for the majority of the season.
So instead of voters splitting his vote between guard and forward, and likely costing him a spot on the team, Williams will have a much better shot at finding his name on these lists.
This split vote issue has happened before, when Khris Middleton was left off the third team back in 2020.
The NBA has added a third two-way slot and changed the contract rules for second-round picks, which benefits OKC Thunder General Manager Sam Presti.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have taken advantage of finding second-round talent and using two-way deals better than any other team in the NBA. So now, the league is adding a third two-way contract per team and restructuring what deals you can issue to second-round picks.
On this current Thunder roster, Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Lindy Waters III, Olivier Sarr, and Jared Butler have spent time on a two-way deal or are currently on a two-way contract. That list expands to Jaylin Williams, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Isaiah Joe, and Kenrich Williams when you factor in second-round picks or undrafted players on the current team.
The OKC Thunder have a treasure chest of second-round draft picks, which will be used in various ways, from attaching them to contracts to get rid of to bringing in veterans and simply using them to bring in prospects.
The Thunder have used their second-round picks to ink them to deal similar to first-rounders, as they did with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Jaylin Williams, and start them on two-way pacts until it makes sense to convert them onto standard deals, which was the case for Aaron Wiggins.
The NBA is broadening the contracts teams can offer to second-round picks, should you hit on your selections. According to Shams Charania, “The NBA/NBPA’s new CBA will create a new Second-Round Pick Exception that can be used so teams will no longer need to dip into the mid-level exception to sign second-rounders.”
As money gets tight down the road for OKC as they begin to pay players, the league creating an expectation to bring in talent for teams that scout and develop well is another big win for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
What do you think of these new CBA rules? Feel free to drop your thoughts below in the comment section.