The OKC Thunder committed an exorbitant amount of money in new, standard contracts this summer, especially in their efforts to keep their core trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren together for the long haul.
Yet, despite this coinciding with an evolving era of tax penalties, the organization is more than capable of avoiding things like the dreaded second apron, and the Dillon Jones trade from a couple of months back served as a perfect example of how.
Thunder have enough picks to make almost everyone expendable
Just a week after winning the 2025 NBA Finals and a few days following the 2025 NBA Draft, Sam Presti and company opted to part ways with their 26 pick from the 2024 draft by sending him to the Washington Wizards in exchange for guard Colby Jones, who was immediately waived.