The Oklahoma City Thunder have spent this offseason shedding talent, but they're ending it by retaining some. Late Sunday, they agreed to a five-year, $139 million contract extension with Cason Wallace, according to ESPN. Re-signing Wallace before the season was essential for two reasons.
First, the entire league knows how vulnerable Oklahoma City is financially, and would have jumped at the chance to sign Wallace to an inconveniently structured offer sheet in restricted free agency next summer. Second, Wallace's value may be about to rise. For the first time this season, he is expected to take on a permanent starting role.
That starting shooting guard job previously belonged to Lu Dort, who, along with Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, was traded for the sake of dodging the second apron. The Thunder opened this offseason roughly $40 million above that line and managed to sneak below it. Considering the talent in place, though, eventually going back above the line was an inevitability.
Sam Presti said as much after trading Dort: "The impression I have been given is that the savings generated this summer, and from being out of the tax the last several years, will be re-allocated to future teams." Well, one of those future teams is the 2027-28 roster, which, at this point, is essentially as expensive as this year's group was slated to be before trading away Dort, Wiggins and Joe. Let's assume Wallace's contract starts at the lowest possible figure, which would be about $23.5 million. With 13 players under contract, the Thunder are set to be roughly $25 million above the projected second apron.
That doesn't take into account their three first-round picks or the possibility that they decline their team option on Ajay Mitchell in order to sign him to a team-friendly, long-term contract. In other words, the Thunder are going to be enormously expensive next season. Now, at least according to Presti, they're prepared for that.
They're also about as well-equipped to handle an enormous payroll as a team can be. This season will be Oklahoma City's first in the luxury tax of this era, so the Thunder remain years away from repeater status and the premium that comes with it. While going into the second apron once does incur some consequences, the worst of them don't come until a team's third time above the line within a five-year span.
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