The Thunder have one roster spot left to sort out, and the answer probably shouldn’t come later.
Oklahoma City is in the final stretch of its offseason work as it gets ready for a new season and another run at the top of the NBA. After losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, the roster has already gone through some major turnover this summer. More players left than arrived, and that has left the Thunder with a little extra flexibility - plus a vacant spot to fill.
At the moment, 14 standard contracts are spoken for, along with all three two-way spots. That leaves one final opening, and it’s still unclear who will land it.
For a while, Spencer Jones looked like the answer. Oklahoma City signed him to a two-year offer sheet earlier in the offseason, but the Denver Nuggets matched it in the final hours and kept the young wing. Even though that deal fell through, it still offered a clue about what the Thunder may be targeting with that last roster spot.
The temptation in today’s NBA is to save that opening for the buyout market and see what shakes loose during the season. There are always veterans looking for a late landing spot on a contender, and Oklahoma City has dipped into that pool before. Derek Fisher, Caron Butler and Markieff Morris all joined the Thunder for stretch-run help at different points.
But this current team may not be the best place to go hunting for that kind of addition. The Thunder’s success has been built on youth and chemistry, and that’s not something they should gamble with just because a veteran becomes available later. Oklahoma City already saw how a seemingly modest move can go sideways with its 2024 trade for Gordon Hayward.
That’s the risk here: bringing in someone who ends up disrupting the flow, or forcing Mark Daigneault into playing a Hayward-like piece when it’s obvious the fit isn’t there. The safer play may be to use the final spot on something less dramatic, even if it doesn’t make a splash. A team this good doesn’t have to chase a midseason headline to finish its roster.
In Other News...
Thunder Already See Who Stands In The Way Out West
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The praise since his announcement has matched the scale of his career, with fellow legends lining up to put his place in history in plain terms. Tracy McGrady, a Hall of Famer himself, singled out one of Westbrooks signature performances as something that belonged in the highest tier of individual greatness, another reminder that the respect he earned around the league was never just about numbers, but about how often he left other elite players shaking their heads. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder's Grip On The West Just Got More Complicated
The Thunders path through the West is looking a little less clear already, and it has nothing to do with what Oklahoma City has done on its own roster. Around the conference, rivals are taking swings that could reshape the balance of power by the 2026-27 season, from veteran help in San Antonio to a major talent infusion in Minnesota. For a team that has started to look like the standard in the conference, the margin for error just got thinner.
San Antonios addition of Tobias Harris gives Victor Wembanyama a more polished frontcourt partner, while the Lakers made their biggest move by going after Walker Kessler, a fit that could change the tone of their defense if everything comes together. Minnesota, meanwhile, landed LaMelo Ball in a trade that adds another layer of upside to a Western Conference that already had enough high-end threats. None of these moves guarantees a direct challenge to Oklahoma City, but together they make the Thunders hold on the West feel more vulnerable than it did a week ago. [Read more 🡒]