According to NBA Insider Shams Charania, the OKC Thunder have opted to decline the team options for Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell in order to sign them to long-term contracts once free agency officially begins on July 6.
Williams and the organization have agreed on a three-year, $24 million deal with a team option on the final season, while Mitchell intends to ink a three-year, $9 million deal. They will combine to earn around 6.5 percent of the salary cap each season, which is a steal for a pair of contributors off the bench.
Assuming that these contracts are signed on July 6, Oklahoma City rosters 14 players for next season at a total of $180,957,005, according to Spotrac.
The last spot will presumably go to rookie Thomas Sorber. Based on the 2025 NBA rookie scale, the maximum Sorber can receive is a four-year, $22,512,733 contract with the first year being $4,655,040.
If Sorber gets the max (which is likely), then the Thunder have the entire roster at $185,612,045 for next season. That figure is $2,287,955 below the luxury tax and $10,333,955 below the first apron.
The repeater tax is imposed on franchises that exceed the luxury tax in at least three of the previous four seasons, so ducking the tax this season is critical for a Thunder squad that expects to be well above the tax threshold soon.
Thunder have set themselves up for many more years of top-tier success
OKC currently has 11 players under contract for the 2027 season at a total of $158,639,404, with the unsigned players being Sorber, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Ousmane Dieng.
Sorber’s max amount in 2027 is $4,887,720, which pushes the total to $163,527,124.
Meanwhile, J-Dub and Chet are expected to receive rookie max extensions in the next couple of days. It would pay them each 25 percent of the salary cap per season. If the organization agrees to include the higher max criteria clause, then it could jump to 30 percent depending on whether Williams and/or Holmgren win MVP, DPOY, or make All-NBA next season.
Assuming that both of them settle at 25 percent and the current salary cap projection is correct, then OKC would have 14 players under contract in 2027 at a total of $248,583,124. That’s $19,975,124 above the projected second apron!
The Thunder could decline Isaiah Hartenstein’s team option and also decline-and-sign Kenrich Williams to the veteran minimum. This path puts OKC $11,710,115 below the projected second apron with two roster spots to fill, so it’s possible to avoid the penalties.
Or the Thunder could just accept the penalties, try to win two more titles with this same squad, and then break up the band in the 2027 offseason once Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s supermax extension and Cason Wallace’s rookie extension begin.
Overall, Sam Presti is building a financially healthy roster. The cap sheet is squeaky clean next season, and OKC should be able to bring back most, if not all, of their players in the following season.