The Thunder built a contender -- now they must dec...

playWhy SGA considers his season a failure (0:40) AN HOUR AFTER the San Antonio Spurs dethroned his Oklahoma City Thunder in a dramatic Game 7, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked a version of the question nearly every NBA star gets after his team falls short. How much input do you plan to have on the franchise's offseason maneuvering? "I will give zero input," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I will let Sam Presti, the greatest GM ever, do his job." The Thunder's operation is rare in its stability and centralized power structure. Presti was hired at 31 to run the Seattle SuperSonics. He just finished his 19th season in the job, including all 18 years since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City. In that time, through the draft and sharp trades, Presti has delivered two of the greatest young cores in NBA history to one of the league's smallest markets. That has earned him a level of front office autonomy uncommon in sports, rooted in unfettered trust from ownership to the head coach to the fanbase to, in this iteration, the back-to-back MVP entering the middle of his prime. But as the Thunder dust off the disappointment of a conference finals loss, the spotlight isn't exclusively on Presti. Keeping an evolving but optimized version of this perennial contender together will require an enhanced financial commitment, shifting an increased obligation onto Clay Bennett and his ownership group to spend what it requires. Raises follow success. The Thunder just became the sixth franchise since the league shifted to a 16-team playoff format in 1983 to finish as the top seed in three consecutive seasons. They've won 57, 68 and 64 games. The middle season ended in a championship. The third, flaming out Saturday night in Game 7 to the 62-win Spurs, could've seen another Finals berth had their second-best player, Jalen Williams, not been injured. Williams and Chet Holmgren, both drafted in the 2022 lottery, signed extensions last summer that kick in starting in 2026-27. Holmgren's salary is rising from $13.7 million to $41.5 million. Williams' salary is rising from $6.5 million to $41.5 million. Additionally, two of the Thunder's complementary starters enter the summer with contractual uncertainty. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, acquired in the summer of 2024 as one of the finishing pieces to Oklahoma City's championship puzzle, has a team option for $28.5 million next season. Luguentz Dort, the homegrown, rugged 3-and-D wing who is tied with Gilgeous-Alexander as the longest-tenured players on the roster, has a team option for $18.2 million. The Thunder's team salary was a manageable $186.7 million this season, 15th in the NBA and below the tax line for the sixth consecutive season. Next season, prior to the draft, free agency and their various team option choices, the Thunder's salary is projected at a whopping $250.5 million, well past the projected second apron, which would trigger a more than $200 million tax bill. League insiders are not predicting the prudent Presti will make any panic moves because of a coin flip seven-game series loss to the Spurs. But many league executives have been wondering aloud for months whether the Thunder's shifting financials could lead to a slashing and market availability of some of their coveted role players, especially given the cache of draft picks and young players Presti has accumulated to replace them if needed. "There can't be room for everybody," one East executive said. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren made a combined $58.5 million this season. That figure moves to $123.8 million next season and $150.8 million in 2027-28. William Purnell/Getty ImagesGILGEOUS-ALEXANDER WON his second MVP this season while making $38.3 million, the 34th-most among all NBA players, behind Trae Young, Domantas Sabonis and Franz Wagner, among others. Comparatively speaking, the Thunder will have him on an extreme bargain for one more season. He will make $40.3 million in 2026-27, 39th-most among all players before any of this summer's free agency dealings. His salary is actually a tick below that of Williams and Holmgren ($41.5 million each). Gilgeous-Alexander's four-year extension kicks in for the 2027-28 season, beginning at $61 million and ending with a $75.6 million player option for the 2030-31 season. Gilgeous-Alexander turns 28 next month. That's the price of employment for an all-time great guard smack in his prime. But it also generates what league sources believe will be the true beginning -- the summer of 2027 -- of a financial reckoning for Thunder ownership, testing their appetite to pay what could be a record tax bill to fill out depth around their top three. Holmgren and Williams, sharing the same agent in Bill Duffy, signed different versions of similar contract extensions last summer. Holmgren's was a flat 25% max without the opportunity to trigger a spike to 30%. Williams got the "Rose Rule" provision in his, giving him the opportunity to bump h

The Thunder built a contender -- now they must dec...

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