The Thunder’s success is creating a problem most teams would happily take: a roster that could get wildly expensive in a hurry.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports that Oklahoma City is staring at a projected payroll of about $250MM next season, along with an estimated $200MM luxury tax bill. That figure doesn’t even include the added cost of three possible first-round picks in the 2027 draft. The Thunder have incoming selections from the Clippers, Nuggets - top-five protected - and Spurs, which is lottery protected, and each one adds another layer to the financial squeeze.
That pressure is also tied to some immediate roster calls. Oklahoma City has a $7.8MM team option on Jaylin Williams for next summer, while the club must decide by November 2 whether to guarantee the salaries of Nikola Topic at $7.5MM and Thomas Sorber at $5.1MM.
Windhorst notes the Thunder don’t have the roster space to keep all three players while also using all three draft picks, and keeping Topic and Sorber would push the tax bill up by more than $60MM. He adds that the total cost - salary plus tax penalties - could climb to $500MM after the draft.
“They will not be paying that much, so it comes down to who and how they cut some of it,” an executive from another team tells Windhorst. “ (General manager) 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 on-court story around the Thunder still had its own twist Thursday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak of scoring at least 20 points ended at 141 straight games, and Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman reported that Gilgeous-Alexander chose not to chase it down at the end. He had 17 points when Denver called timeout with 1:24 left, but once he noticed the Nuggets had pulled their starters, he headed back to the bench.
“I was going to go out there,” he said. “But then I saw that (Denver) had subbed, so I was like, ‘I should probably sub too.’ I feel like you should always treat the game with respect.”
Tim MacMahon of ESPN also examined how Presti helped shape Gilgeous-Alexander into a two-time MVP. After the guard was acquired in the trade with the Clippers, Presti stressed patience while Gilgeous-Alexander dealt with plantar fasciitis.
Gilgeous-Alexander said, “I just believed wholeheartedly and had trust in just like the human being Sam was,” and added, “In this business, that’s another thing that you just can’t control - who runs your organization. I’ve been lucky to be placed with a guy like Sam.
It’s been amazing. It feels like a partnership.
I don’t work for him. He doesn’t work for me.
We’re in this thing together.”
On top of that, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic discussed Topic, his teammate on the Serbian national team, in an interview on the Oklahoman website.
In Other News...
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The bigger concern may be what happened to the rotation. Cam Johnson went down with an ankle injury during the game and did not return, leaving Denver to sort out an already uneasy opening night without one of the pieces it was counting on. With Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray both scuffling offensively, the Nuggets now have an early test of how quickly they can stabilize things if the lineup is forced to change. [Read more 🡒]
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The Nuggets were already dealing with a familiar problem in their loss to Oklahoma City, and it showed up fast once Cam Johnson was forced out with a right ankle sprain after just 11 minutes. Denver leaned heavily on his spacing and perimeter gravity, and when he left early, the offense lost one of the few reliable ways it had to stretch the floor against a Thunder defense built to squeeze every possession.
Aaron Gordon did his part in an unusual way, knocking down 3 of 4 threes and finishing with 20 points, but that kind of shot-making from a forward is not the same as having a true answer on the wing. Denver shot 8-for-30 from deep overall, and without Johnson's presence opening the floor, the Nuggets' spacing issues only got harder to hide. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Already Face An Early Rotation Test After Opener
The Nuggets did not even get through their season opener before the rotation started to wobble a bit. Spencer Jones was scratched with a hamstring issue, with coach David Adelman treating the move as precautionary, and the night also brought a promising debut from rookie Trevon Brazile, who hauled in 12 rebounds in his first NBA game.
There was also a tougher concern late in the game when Cameron Johnson exited with an ankle injury and did not come back, leaving Denver with an early availability puzzle to sort through. Add in DeMar DeRozan settling into a bench role after signing with the Nuggets, and Adelman already has a few moving parts to manage as the schedule gets going. [Read more 🡒]