Two years ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder appeared to be a dynasty in the making. Fast-forward two years, and it’s now unclear whether they’ll even win another championship with their current core.
On Sunday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Thunder suffered a pair of injuries that could be fatal to their championship chances this season. Forward Jalen Williams broke his left fibula and dislocated his left ankle, which could be season-ending injuries, while guard Cason Wallace suffered a left labral tear that will also sideline him indefinitely.
The Thunder are preposterously deep, but there’s no downplaying the impact of these injuries. Williams was the second-best player on their championship run two years ago, while they just handed Wallace a five-year, $139 million extension earlier this month. They do still have two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but these injuries will force them to lean into some unproven contributors earlier than expected.
That’s because of the salary-slashing endeavor they embarked upon this past offseason, which significantly reduced their margin for error moving forward.
Thunder’s Salary-Dumps Gone Wrong?
With max extensions for Williams and Chet Holmgren kicking in this year and a supermax extension for SGA beginning in 2027-28, the Thunder had to be mindful of their long-term financial outlook this past summer. That caused them to trade Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks for five second-round picks and Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons for two second-round picks, all while taking zero salary back.
In an interview with Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman in July, Thunder general manager Sam Presti described those trades as a “financial decision.”
“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 reallocated to future teams,” Presti added. “Along with other new well-documented revenue streams, this will allow us to make more basketball-related decisions over the next several years.”
The Thunder demonstrated that by handing Wallace his new deal ahead of the rookie-scale extension deadline, although that raised some longer-term questions about their big-picture plans. As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently noted, they’re now heading toward a $500 million roster in 2027-28 (including their projected luxury-tax bill).
“They will not be paying that much, so it comes down to who and how they cut some of it,” a rival executive told Windhorst. “Sam [Presti] I’m sure has studied it at length and will develop two or three paths out and will look for the cleanest option over the next year.”
The Thunder might have been inclined to keep as much of their core together as possible and worry about those financial problems later. If they need to pivot off Alex Caruso or Isaiah Hartenstein next offseason, they shouldn’t have any trouble scrounging up takers for either player. But dumping Dort, Wiggins and Joe without getting a single player back put more pressure on the rest of OKC’s roster.
“Losing three tremendous players and professionals is not easy,” Presti told Martinez in July. “Our margin for error will be smaller than it has been for some time, but I’m excited to see how we come together.”
Williams and Wallace’s injuries only exacerbated that.
What’s Next For OKC?
The Thunder were right back in action Monday against the Phoenix Suns, which was our first chance to see how they’d adapt without Williams and Wallace. Holmgren also missed the game with right patellar tendinitis, which caused Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain and Kenrich Williams to slide into the starting lineup alongside SGA and Hartenstein.
Mitchell wound up leading all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-26 shooting, although SGA wasn’t far behind with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting. McCain chipped in 18 points (including four made threes), while Hartenstein (15 points, 13 rebounds) and rookie center Aday Mara (11 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that veteran guard Alex Caruso played only nine minutes before suffering an ankle injury that sidelined him for the rest of the night.
Rookie guard Bennett Stirtz, who played sparingly over the Thunder’s first three games of the year, logged a career-high 25 minutes against Phoenix and finished with seven points on 1-of-6 shooting. Mara had already broken into OKC’s rotation, but Stirtz might now have a consistent role as well, at least until Caruso returns.
The Thunder couldn’t have foreseen Williams, Wallace and Caruso all suffering injuries within the first week of the season, but Presti did foreshadow the stakes of those offseason salary dumps. They left the Thunder far more shorthanded than they’ve been in recent years. That hasn’t come back to bite them yet, but it very well might soon.
The Thunder will likely get a $15 million disabled player exception for Williams, which they could use to either sign a free agent or acquire someone via trade without sending salary back. However, they’re only $6.9 million below the second apron and likely don’t have any interest in crossing that line this year, particularly with their title chances now on life support. That could limit their options on the trade market and in free agency.
Salary-dumping Dort, Wiggins and Joe was a necessary evil for the Thunder, but they’re paying the price for it now, far earlier than expected.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
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This article was originally published on Forbes.com