While the rest of the league is doing everything they can to cut down on their respective payrolls in order to avoid first and second apron penalties, the OKC Thunder have spent these early stages of the offseason shelling out high-cost contracts to all of their extension-eligible players.
The latest recipient of such a lucrative pact is All-Star Jalen Williams, who, on Thursday afternoon, agreed to terms on a five-year max rookie extension that holds a value of up to $287 million.
Since the start of the offseason, the Thunder have committed to a potential total of $877.21 million in new, standard deals that will be paid off over the next several years. The Big Three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and J-Dub alone are responsible for as much as $822 million of said figure.
Now, many have voiced their concerns about how Oklahoma City's lofty spending spree will fare with the league's new Collective Bargaining Agreement, with some pointing to the current state of the Boston Celtics as a recent example of a franchise being torn apart by the recently implemented financial hardships.
However, considering how the Thunder are currently constructed, they seem to have the ability to not only avoid the game's harrowing rules and regulations but also to make a mockery of them along the way.
Jalen Williams extension the cherry on top of Thunder's CBA rebellion
When the new CBA came into effect back in the summer of 2023, the overarching belief was that its primary purpose was to prevent dynasties from being created and, in turn, to see parity when it comes to teams winning NBA Championships.
The agreement aims to achieve this goal by allowing a team to spend a certain amount on their payroll before incurring complications with paying fines for dipping into the luxury tax and the repeater tax.
Following that, things like the first and, more importantly, the second tax aprons were established, which are hard-stop salary thresholds that, if entered into, add debilitating restrictions to an organization
With all this in mind, coupled with the more than $800 million committed to just three players, it seems as if the Thunder are destined to be a second-apron team in just a few short years, right?
Wrong!
Even with these new deals and all 15 roster spots filled, heading into 2025-26, Oklahoma City is still roughly $8 million below the first tax apron.
Once the extensions of Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, and Holmgren kick in for the 2026-27 season, they're still projected to have a nice cushion between themselves and the dreaded second apron (roughly $17 million).
More good news, surrounding this championship core are a slew of cost-efficient players on easily discardable contracts. The most notable is Isaiah Hartenstein, who has a team option for that year which, if declined, would save the Thunder $28.5 million.
Again, that's just one of several examples of expendable commodities that year.
Add all of this to the fact that they have a ton of players still on their rookie-scale deals and have a plethora of draft capital heading their way, and it becomes crystal clear that, even with the amount of money being thrown at the Thunder's Big Three, OKC has the means to keep the entirety of this team in a position to contend for multiple championships over the coming year while avoiding the second apron altogether.
The NBA tried to kill the possibility of there ever being another dynasty. After winning the Finals this past June, the Thunder are looking to crush the CBA's dreams.