The combination of that trio adds up to nearly $33 million in expiring salaries. That’s a decent chunk of change to play with for the Thunder this offseason. Since it’s tax season, what the Thunder will do with all that cap space will be the equivalent of the safe and boring answer of using your refund money to pay off bills instead of buying a new shiny car.
The Thunder historically have seldom signed outside free agents. They believe in drafting their roster and adding outside additions to improve the margins. The smart route would be to use the extra cap space to extend players already on the roster who continue to improve and are due a new contract soon.
Some possibilities include Josh Giddey, Isaiah Joe and Wiggins. The latter two will be a lot easier to work with. Both Joe and Wiggins have proven their worth as rotation players and a new contract should see them get respectable promotions — especially as second-round picks who’ve been on bargain deals for OKC.
Joe has a $2.2 million team option and Wiggins has a $2 million team option that’ll easily get picked up next season. After that though, both can enter unrestricted free agency in 2025. It’s a risky gamble OKC likely doesn’t want to take considering what each can command in the open market. A deal with at least one of them this offseason is certainly on the table because of this.
The former of the trio will likely be the toughest to sign. Giddey has had an up-and-down season but has played better in recent weeks. This could complicate the negotiation process as both sides can reasonably be far apart.
The Thunder will point to Giddey’s struggles in the first two-thirds of the season as to why he should take less than what he’ll seek while Giddey can point to his first two seasons and this last one-third of the year as to why he should get a rookie max extension.
The Giddey dilemma will be the most interesting offseason storyline for the Thunder. He’ll be the first of a wave of prominent players who’ll be extension-eligible for OKC. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams will likely sign their second contract in the summer of 2025.
Even though they historically never do this with players they like, there’s…
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