Sam Presti built a championship roster in Oklahoma City and the bill for success came due for several foundational players last summer.
But the Thunder general manager is not planning a purge to avoid rising costs or the tax ramifications of reaching the NBA’s “second apron,” a multiplier for a level of spending woven into the Collective Bargaining Agreement to maintain a level playing field across all markets.
Presti faces a payroll hike of more than $60 million to $260.35 million as the 2026-27 season roster is currently constructed. The Thunder doled out maximum-level contracts to back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren last year, deals totaling between $750 million and $800 million depending on incentives attained.
Gilgeous-Alexander said he won’t offer input into what Presti does next, nor does he desire to.
“I will give zero input,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I will let Sam Presti, the greatest GM ever, do his job.”
Oklahoma City finished with the best record in the NBA, winning 64 games in the regular season before coming one win short of a return to the NBA Finals.
Head coach Mark Daigneault also made it clear the Thunder aren’t chasing specific players or roster openings. He stressed Presti almost always sells culture when talking to free agents, the same way he views all assets in the organization. In tandem, they don’t view the looming offseason as a mile post or landmark, but a continuation of their ongoing construction project.
“When I started as the head coach, I already had six years in the organization. So, that’s a six-plus-year relationship that we already had,” Daigneault said.
“… I was like raised here in professional basketball. I didn’t work anywhere else in pro basketball prior to coming here. I didn’t know much about professional basketball before I came here. So, my entire philosophy in professional basketball was underneath the umbrella of the Thunder organization. So, our philosophical alignment is so tight because of that.”
“This is the only place I’ve ever worked, and this is the only way I’ve ever done it. And a lot of it is stuff I learned from Sam and learned from being in this organization.”
Williams was not healthy, and there was public clamoring for change before the Western Conference finals ended based on the production the defending champions received in Game 7 from Holmgren, whose salary is over $41 million next season. He scored four points and attempted two shots.
“Some of that is on me, some of that is the way we approach the game,” Daigneault said of Holmgren after Game 7. “That’s not all on him. I thought he played his minutes well.”
–Field Level Media
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