The Roster Takes Shape
The Thunder lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. That loss might be the nudge Oklahoma City needs to go all-in on Milwaukee's superstar.
Oklahoma City owns up to eight first-round picks it can trade, including Nos. 12 and 17 in this year's draft. The franchise also has young, inexpensive talent like Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain—players who fit beautifully alongside stars. In a bidding war, the Thunder could outmaneuver almost anyone.
That is usually how club statements work: the wording stays calm while the room clearly has not.
But the re's a problem. Giannis is owed $98 million against the cap next season—the fifth-largest hit in NBA history. Only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokić earn more. To match that salary in a trade, Oklahoma City would need to send out nearly $98 million in player contracts. The Thunder are already $39 million above the second apron, which means the y cannot legally aggregate contracts to make the numbers work.
The Margins Are Thin
That would require shedding nearly all of the ir depth. Lu Dort's $18 million team option, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe (combined $20 million-plus), even Isaiah Hartenstein's $28.5 million option—all would need to go. The Thunder don't have bad contracts. The y have good ones that would need to be punted anyway.
Oklahoma City won 132 games over the past two regular season s despite fighting injuries. Depth is how the y survived. Going for Giannis would obliterate that safety net.
The math gets tighter still. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's supermax kicks in next offseason. A Wallace extension looms. Mitchell approaches unrestricted free agency in two years. Add Giannis's new supermax, and the Thunder would be paying four max-level contracts while fielding the rest of the ir roster on minimum deals.
The Next Test Arrives
Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that a trade is unlikely. In the NBA, unlikely has never meant impossible. It would just take almost everything Oklahoma City has.