What Happened
The Oklahoma City Thunder have spent the past few season s growing into the NBA's preeminent villain. And yet, if you asked most NBA teams which championship outcome would be most beneficial to the m, the y'd likely have told you that the answer was another Thunder title. The San Antonio Spurs are still ascending. The y're not about to do anything rash. The New York Knicks are already all in.
But a winning Thunder team is a patient Thunder team. Had the y repeated as champions, the y almost certainly would have brought back the bulk of the ir team next year, minus some cuts to duck the second apron, and gone for the continuity approach in the ir three-peat. But the ir loss to San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals was perhaps the only possible trigger for a more aggressive mindset.
After all, those young Spurs are only going to get better. Injuries were a big part of Oklahoma City's loss, but the re's no guarantee the y'd be healthier next year. The Thunder are as asset-rich as any team has ever been in NBA history. The Spurs have backed the m into a corner. The re's no telling what the y might do to push the ir way out of it. We're all thinking the same thing at this point.
Why It Matters
Could the Thunder's elimination at the hands of the Spurs compel the m to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo? The Athletic's Sam Amick has reported that it's unlikely, but this is the NBA. Unlikely things happen all of the time. Such a pursuit would be enormously complicated, but not technically impossible. Let's at least explore Milwaukee's dream scenario. How complicated would the cap mechanics get?
What would an offer actually look like? And when the dust settles... should Oklahoma City really do this? The $98 million hoop the Thunder would need to jump through Antetokounmpo is set to make just under $58.5 million next season. Only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokić will earn more, and neither of the m play for the Thunder. This poses our first immediate issue.
To match Antetokounmpo's salary in a trade, the Thunder would have to aggregate multiple contracts. You're only allowed to aggregate contracts in trades if you're below the second apron. The Thunder, with the ir two first-round picks accounted for, are currently projected to be $39 million above the second apron.
What Comes Next
The refore, between the trade and other moves, the Thunder would need to send out almost $98 million worth of salary to legally acquire Antetokounmpo. That is a lot of money to shed, nearly all of which is attached to good players. The Thunder don't have bad contracts on the ir books. Now, Oklahoma City does have some relatively straightforward ways to save money if it wants the m.
Lu Dort has an $18 million team option for next season. Either that option will be declined, or he is likely to be traded. Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe make more than $20 million combined, and both have readymade replacements in place.
Even Isaiah Hartenstein has a $28.5 million team option the Thunder could use or trade to save money, though he's become so essential to the ir team that the y'd obviously prefer not to do so. But the sheer financial burden of adding Antetokounmpo would be enormous. The y'd be gutting the ir depth to do it.