The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the cusp of winning their first championship after taking a 3-2 lead over the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals. While the Thunder look primed to be a dominant force in the years to come, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers stated on The Bill Simmons Podcast that tough decisions will have to be made soon.
“They also have some things coming up called max contracts and paying guys,” River said. “What Sam (Presti) has done is amazing when you think about it… But next year, after this season or in a year, they’re going to have to start paying guys. And then all of a sudden, they probably won’t be as deep as they are now, because they’re going to have to make some tough decisions.”
Rivers admitted that having to hand out max contracts is the only thing that is going to slow down this Thunder team, which won 68 games this season. With all the success they’re having, the players are in line for huge deals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won MVP this year and is eligible to sign a five-year, $380 million contract extension in 2026. It will be the largest contract in NBA history. For some context on just how big of a jump that will be, Gilgeous-Alexander made just $35.8 million this season.
Before Gilgeous-Aleaxnder puts pen to paper on that deal, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who are currently on rookie deals, will get massive contracts of their own. Williams and Holmgren are eligible to sign five-year, $246 million rookie extensions this offseason. The figure could rise to $296 million if MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or All-NBA honors are negotiated into the contracts.
In a couple of years from now, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, and Holmgren will make over $170 million between them a season. As Rivers pointed out, you’re not going to be able to have as much depth as the Thunder have now when these three are eating up so much cap space.
It would have been possible in the past, but these apron rules in the new CBA will cripple the Thunder. Being a second-round team leads to harsh penalties, like the loss of any mid-level exception in free agency and not being allowed to aggregate contracts in trades.
The Thunder having a boatload of draft picks would lessen the blow a little bit, but it just won’t be feasible to hold on to all of their key pieces around the three stars. There is next to no chance that Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, and Isaiah Hartenstein are all on this team in a couple of years. Maybe all three of them might be gone.
So, the Thunder certainly need to capitalize when their big guns are making next to nothing by NBA standards. They look set to win the title this year, especially now with Tyrese Haliburton suffering a calf strain. If they do win it all, they’ll then attempt to do something that hasn’t been done in quite some time, which is repeat.
The Golden State Warriors were the last team to do it in 2017 and 2018. When you look at the current landscape of the NBA, the Thunder would be in a great position to defend their title.
Draymond Green had stated that the Warriors would be the last dynasty in the NBA because of the CBA, and it will be interesting to see if the Thunder can at least become a mini-dynasty of sorts.
