The OKC Thunder head into the knockout rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup 2024 as the number one seed in the West and with an exciting Quarterfinals matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.
To many, Oklahoma City is viewed as the best team that remains alive and, in turn, is pegged as a clear favorite to come away from the Vegas-bound tournament as champions.
However, even with this favorable status, many Thunder players aren't taking their standing for granted and, instead, are continuously looking to stay motivated as they gear up for Tuesday's round-two kickoff.
While there are many different reasons for the ball club to aim at putting their best foot forward during the ongoing contest, for Alex Caruso, his incentive is to help get his younger, lesser-paid teammates the $500,000 cash prize that comes with an NBA Cup title.
Alex Caruso wants lesser-paid Thunder teammates get NBA Cup prize
"We know what’s at stake with the NBA Cup game. Some of the young guys want that extra pay day. That’s some extra motivation too," Caruso said as transcribed by Thunder Wire's Clemente Almanza.
Now in his eighth season in the association, Caruso has a career-earnings total of $42.3 million and is currently making $9.89 million with his 2024-25 salary. Such a mark ranks him with the seventh-highest salary on Oklahoma City's seventh-lowest team payroll this season.
Though the Thunder have displayed a somewhat underwhelming reception to the league's newly implemented in-season tournament, there have been plenty of positive comments made regarding the NBA Cup.
However, like Caruso's recent remarks, they have largely been driven by financial incentives.
Once clinching the top seed following last week's dominating win over the Utah Jazz, a bunch of OKC players talked about how they don't fully understand the formatting of the tournament but the cash prize given to the winning team has many on the team invested.
Jalen Williams even went as far as to say that big man Jaylin Williams (who has been sidelined since before the preseason with a hamstring injury) has been "adamant" about winning the championship-winning money and that, because of this, the team is "doing it for Jay Will."
Along with Jaylin Williams, six standard-contract players on this Thunder roster are earning under $6 million for this season, while two-way players such as Ajay Mitchell, Adam Flagler, and recently added center Branden Carlson are all making under $1 million.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that many of the players in OKC are gunning for the NBA Cup title and the fiscal rewards that come with it.