Why Making No Moves Was the Right Move for OKC Thunder This Summer

Last summer, offseason moves were a big topic of conversation for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and rightfully so. It was abundantly clear that this team would be competing for titles year in and year out, but it wasn’t clear what moves, or how many moves, would push the needle. It’s clear that management got it right by adding Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, because those moves proved to be a big reason why Oklahoma City was crowned champions.

This season, it has been much quieter, and understandably so. After winning an NBA championship, the Thunder clearly didn’t need to add much — even though the rest of the league spent the summer trying to catch up. There’s still time left before training camp of course, but up to this point, Oklahoma City has been quiet on the acquisition front. The Thunder smartly used its first round pick to add talent that will be developed over the coming seasons, and that’s all they really needed to do.

With the new contract extensions, the Thunder could be in a tight spot with salaries in the coming years. They could’ve gotten ahead of it and tried to offload some contracts, but they figured out a way to manage it moving forward. Oklahoma City took the chance to give this group a chance to run it back and defend a title — and that was the perfect way to spend the summer. 

A good portion of the team — mostly role players — are on value contracts heading into the 2025-26 season, and the Thunder opted to keep the group together as opposed to free up money. It’s only fair that this group got a chance to play a full second season together, and potentially beyond.

Stacking up value contracts and adding another first round rookie was smart for the future of the team, and really the only future outlook planning that the franchise needed to do this summer. Cutting costs could come down the road, but electing to not disrupt the chemistry of the present group could pay off in a big way next season.

Oklahoma City has all the pieces to defend its title next year. They didn’t need any splash trades or moves for the future. This team should be ready to compete again when the season tips off in October.