Oklahoma City Thunder roster, rebuild, Josh Giddey rookie max extension, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander contract\u060c<\/p>\n
In the summer of 2020, Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti made trades with 15 different NBA teams. It was time for a knockdown rebuild.<\/p>\n
So, Presti went about putting the franchise back together \u2014 brick by brick \u2014 until foundational pieces started to emerge.<\/p>\n
But with last year\u2019s success, which saw Oklahoma City qualify for the play-in tournament, comes the temptation to put new flooring on top of old material or paint over wallpaper \u2014 rushing the finishing touches to fasttrack this rebuild.<\/p>\n
For Presti though, this is a patient and methodical build that he has masterminded and will see through until the very end. That also means doing it the right way, even if it takes a bit longer.<\/p>\n
Wemby’s SCARY showing torches Heat | 00:28<\/p>\n
All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already cemented himself as one of the key pillars, with four years left on his $172 million maximum rookie contract extension he signed in 2021.<\/p>\n Josh Giddey, meanwhile, took another step in his development last season while Jalen Williams emerged as another key component of this talented, young Thunder roster.<\/p>\n Then there is Chet Holmgren, another potential pillar of this rebuild \u2014 and a 7-foot-1 one at that. <\/p>\n Add in the flexibility that comes with having 35 draft picks over the next seven years and this is a Thunder team that is in a position to take a big swing to compete now<\/i>.<\/p>\n But outside of Gilgeous-Alexander being the central piece, is Oklahoma City actually close enough to confidently know what the best version of this roster looks like? <\/p>\n Presti certainly seems to think, at least for now, the answer to that question is no.<\/p>\n \u201cA couple of things on this,\u201d Presti said at media day when the topic of a potential all-in move was floated by one reporter.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I know this was going to be coming.\u201d<\/p>\n That hardly comes as a surprise either for a general manager like Presti, who is as detailed in his responses to media questions as he is with his approach to Oklahoma City\u2019s rebuild itself.<\/p>\n Presti is all about transparency and so when he is talking to the media he knows that \u2014 by extension \u2014 he is talking to the fans. And he wants them to feel a part of his vision.<\/p>\n So, he sits down \u2014 usually for over two hours \u2014 in both his pre-season and post-season interviews to give the Oklahoma City fanbase confidence in where this team is heading.<\/p>\n Not that he has to do that anyway after last season\u2019s success. But with greater expectations comes the potential for Presti to divert from what got him and the Thunder here in the first place. <\/p>\n That won\u2019t be happening though. Allow Presti to explain, with another one of his well thought out analogies of course. <\/p>\n \u201cSo I have thought about this question in a way to kind of put it into terms that isn\u2019t dismissive because there\u2019s no script here,\u201d Presti added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe practice what we preach. We are open-minded, literally. But there\u2019s a couple reasons why I think that particular topic is maybe not relevant right now. <\/p>\n \u201cOne, I used the example with the paint last year. You can\u2019t buy the paint for your house that you haven\u2019t actually bought. You don\u2019t know where the house is. You don\u2019t know where it\u2019s situated. You don\u2019t know what style it is. You don\u2019t know how much paint you\u2019ll need. So we don\u2019t really know what we have right now.\u201d<\/p>\n That is particularly true given Holmgren spent the entirety of what should have been his rookie season last year on the sideline with a Lisfranc injury.<\/p>\n How he fits at Oklahoma City and whether Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander can find ways to co-exist as dominant ball handlers will again be important in dictating what this Thunder team\u2019s ceiling is.<\/p>\n Big Ben deep in his bag once again! | 00:39<\/p>\n \u201cSo to even say, it\u2019s a very broad term \u2018star\u2019. Where? Who\u2019s to say we don\u2019t have a player that could be really good in that spot already?\u201d Presti went on to ask. <\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know the answer to that, right? I don\u2019t know. So we may not, I mean, the chances are, it\u2019s really hard to find those players. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have one of them. If there happens to be one or two or more on the roster… we\u2019ve really got fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n Although that is also where things could get tricky for Oklahoma City as it looks to both consolidate its roster in the present while also planning for the future. <\/p>\n You see, Gilgeous-Alexander \u2014 who is slated to enter free agency in the summer of 2028 \u2014 is already on his rookie max extension, which will see him earn just shy of $40 million in the 2026-27 season. <\/p>\n Soon attention will also turn to potential rookie max extensions for the likes of Giddey, Holmgren and even Williams should he continue on his upwards trajectory. <\/p>\n The new CBA though benefits a team like the Thunder that builds from within, rewarding franchises who draft and then later extend their own players. <\/p>\n On the other hand, as Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype wrote, \u201cteams with the most expensive rosters will have more restrictions that will limit their ability to add players from outside the roster\u201d.<\/p>\n That is no big loss for Oklahoma City since attracting free agents has never been an easy task for a small market team like the Thunder anyway.<\/p>\n Plus, with one eye towards the future, Oklahoma City already went about using its cap space cleverly to take on unwanted contracts this summer while acquiring more draft assets in the process.<\/p>\n Take the decision to absorb the $17 million contract Davis Bertans is owed this season in order to move up on draft night to select guard Cason Wallace. <\/p>\n It was a shrewd move from the Thunder, with Bertans only guaranteed $5 million in the 2024-25 season. <\/p>\n As for the $17 million price tag he carries this season, the new CBA incentivises teams to reach the salary cap floor by the first day of the regular season and punishes those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n In other words, it was part of the $30 million in salary cap space Oklahoma City had to spend anyway and the Thunder made it count too in bolstering their plans for the future.<\/p>\n Which brings us back to Giddey.<\/p>\n Denver looks toward dynasty after title | 01:01<\/p>\n Externally, there have been conversations as to whether he could be the odd man<\/a> out in what Oklahoma City is building. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little early and they don\u2019t have to wait until the 2026-27 season when some of the big contracts come up but you can bet they\u2019re thinking about it and maybe the cap is going to go up a lot every year which will make it a little easier,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Zach Lowe, who recently named Giddey as one of the most intriguing players in the NBA this season, said on his podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI may be overthinking it, I\u2019m obviously way ahead of my skis on just making these decisions and they don\u2019t have to make any decisions any time soon. <\/p>\n \u201cBut the guy I keep thinking about and keep watching and keep an eye on as like, \u2018Is this going to be the guy that is going to be the centrepiece of the big trade where they consolidate some of these guys into maybe a veteran who helps them\u2019 is Giddey. <\/p>\n \u201cI know I have my ball-handler, number one guy in Shai, I love Jalen Williams who is going to be a secondary ball-handler, Chet plays a position where if he hits he\u2019s obviously going to be part of my core. <\/p>\n \u201cGiddey is just one of those guys who shot 32 per cent from 3 last year, got better, knows how to pick his spots to push the ball in transition\u2026 and he\u2019s a great passer and great rebounder and just kind of picks his spots to impact the game more than you would expect for someone who \u2018needs the ball\u2019 and \u2018is a minus shooter\u2019. <\/p>\n \u201cHe finds a way to make a positive impact. I find myself thinking about him a lot and his future on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Any major consolidation trade for the Thunder is unlikely to happen this season as Oklahoma City instead tries to work out its core group of players to build around in the long-term.<\/p>\n Once that happens, the Thunder will then be in a position to decider whether to push all their chips in.<\/p>\n As for who they could target, that will largely remain up in the air given it is more of a question for the future. <\/p>\n \u201cRight now there\u2019s not a rational case for going all in and making a big move,\u201d Kevin O\u2019Connor of The Ringer said on \u2018The Bill Simmons Podcast\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there could be once we have a better idea of what we actually need. I think that idea is going to come January or February and whether they make a move or not depends on who\u2019s available. <\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m pretty sure when you look at this roster you could pretty clearly say adding maybe a star, scoring wing or big, beefy centre next to Chet Holmgren is pretty clearly what this roster needs because they don\u2019t need much else at all.\u201d<\/p>\n