Victor Wembanyama may be setting up the Spurs for a longer run at the top, and that should get the Thunder’s attention.
San Antonio has already established itself as a real problem for Oklahoma City in the Western Conference. The Spurs knocked out the defending champions in round three of the playoffs this past season before going on to represent the West in the NBA Finals. Now there’s a new wrinkle: according to NBA insider Jake Fischer, Wembanyama is considering re-signing for "less than his maximum rookie scale extension," which would be five years, $251 million at full value.
The reason, Fischer reported, would be to give the Spurs more financial flexibility so they can keep building a title-level roster around him. That matters because San Antonio already has one of the youngest cores in the league, and if Wembanyama does take a smaller number, it could help keep this group together for the long haul. For a team that already looks dangerous, that would only make the threat bigger for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder know the other side of this equation well. When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren became eligible for max extensions last summer, they signed them without hesitation - and that’s the right move for players who earned that money.
But the NBA’s new tax apron rules are making it harder than ever to keep a contender intact once multiple max deals pile up. The Jaylen Brown blockbuster was the latest reminder, and Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens spelled out the challenge when he said the path to another title gets a lot tougher when "70 percent of our cap and such a high percentage of our usage" is tied to just a couple of players.
The Thunder are already feeling that squeeze. Next season, $123.8 million of their $233 million payroll will be tied to SGA, J-Dub, and Chet, which comes out to 53.1 percent of their salary obligations. By 2030-31, that combined number is projected to climb past $185 million, assuming Shai opts into his $75.6 million option.
There’s also a counterpoint the Thunder can look at in New York. The Knicks just showed how a cornerstone taking less - in this case, Jalen Brunson - can make it easier for a front office to build a roster that can chase the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Wembanyama appears open to that kind of path. If he follows through, the Spurs could become even harder to shake, and Oklahoma City’s expensive star trio will have to prove every dollar is worth it.
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For Holmgren, the next step is less about surviving at a new spot than thriving in it. If he is going to spend more time stretched out on the floor, his three-point shot becomes even more important, both in volume and efficiency, and the Thunder will be counting on him to help fill some of the perimeter production that has gone out the door. The question now is how quickly he can turn that adjustment into another weapon for a team that keeps finding new ways to raise the bar. [Read more 🡒]