The Thunder finished their four-game road trip impressively 3-1, with the lone loss coming against the Houston Rockets in a hard-fought game. The Thunder’s overall record is 15-5, and they are first in the Western Conference. However, now that we are in December, Alex Caruso is eligible for an extension on December 21st. Even though he hasn’t had the greatest of years offensively and has already missed seven games with injuries, he is still a player the Thunder should and want to keep long-term. However, the Thunder must be strategic when extending Alex Caruso. Since we are in December, we will examine why the Thunder must be strategic with any contract extension with Caruso.
Why the Thunder Must be Strategic When Extending Alex Caruso
What is Alex Caruso Eligible For
When the Thunder traded for Alex Caruso, they were expecting an elite two-way guard with playoff experience. The Thunder have gotten everything they had hoped for with Caruso besides on the offense. Caruso has struggled on the offensive side of the ball, averaging 5.0 points per game, which is his lowest since his rookie season, while shooting 35.6% from the field and 20.5% from three, which are career lows. Furthermore, the Thunder are hopeful that he can turn around these poor shooting nights when he returns from the injury that has kept him from playing in the last four games.
However, even with the offensive struggles, Caruso is a player the Thunder want to keep long-term. After December 21st, Caruso is eligible to sign a four-year, $80 million extension. If the Thunder are unable to agree on an extension with Caruso during the season, he will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, something the Thunder want to avoid at all costs. Ultimately, is giving Caruso the full four-year, $80 million the right move for them?
Why the Thunder Must be Strategic
The Thunder have a very talented and deep roster. However, most of them are on rookie contracts still or on team-friendly deals. The offseason before the 2026-2027 season will be very crucial for the Thunder as that is the year they will have to decide who they want to keep long-term and let go. Caruso is one of those guys the Thunder would like to keep long-term. However, there are also other players like Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Cason Wallace that the Thunder would like to keep. This is why giving Caruso the full max extension might not be in their best interest, especially for a player who is entering his 30s.
If the Thunder did give him the full max extension after, the Thunder re-sign their big three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren. The Thunder would be very limited on who they could keep with the other players. This means guys like Hartenstein, Dort, and others, the Thunder, would be forced to let them go. The good news is the Thunder have multiple draft picks to be able to replace some of the guys they are forced to let go. However, out of Caruso, Dort, Hartenstein, and Wallace, the Thunder would like to be able to keep at least two or three of them. However, this will all be dependent on how strategic the Thunder is when extending Caruso.
Different Options the Thunder Could Use
Since giving Caruso the full $80 million over four years might not be in OKC’s best interest. Then the question becomes, what other options do the Thunder have with an extension for Caruso? The answer to the question is multiple options, but there are three that are the best. The first one is giving him a one-plus-one deal for $40 million. This way, you are still giving him the 20 million he is eligible for, but instead of four years, it is only for a max of two. This way, the Thunder don’t hurt their ability to sign other players in the future, and they can come back to Caruso when he is 32 or 33 years old on a new extension that is cheaper.
The second option is giving him a two-plus-one deal for $60 million. For the same reasons as the first option, this will allow the Thunder to be more flexible to sign other players in the future. However, this will affect their ability more to sign others than the first option since he will be on the books for $20 million for the 2026-2027 season instead of having a team option for that year. To avoid this, the Thunder could always front-load the contract a little bit to decrease that number in that year as well.
The Last Option
The final option is if the Thunder don’t want to give him the max but still want to give him the four years. In this scenario, they could try and see if Caruso would come back on more of a team-friendlier deal. For example, a contract of four years for $60 million, which is 15 million a year as opposed to 20. However, there is no guarantee Caruso will be willing to do this, which is why the other two options are better.
Last Word on Extending Alex Caruso
As you can see, when December 21st comes, the Thunder will have many options when trying to extend Alex Caruso. The Thunder fans should be hopeful that Sam Presti will be able to agree with Caruso’s camp, as Presti is one of the better GMs in the league. In addition, right before training camp, he made it very well known that he wants Caruso here long-term. However, the Alex Caruso extension will determine the Thunder’s ability to re-sign other players in the future and why the Thunder must be strategic with the extension to allow them more flexibility.
