{"id":149577,"date":"2025-07-10T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=149577"},"modified":"2025-07-10T06:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T10:01:07","slug":"thunder-perfected-a-forgotten-team-building-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/10\/thunder-perfected-a-forgotten-team-building-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder Perfected a Forgotten Team Building Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the recent extensions of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmgch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chet Holmgren<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>, the Thunder are going to run into the second apron. OKC still have to extend <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija06.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Williams<\/a> as well, and he will presumably get the max. So, the Thunder will be paying their trio around 85% of the salary cap. Many teams would crumble under this pressure and implode within a season. Not the Thunder though, as the NBA champions have perfected and made their rendition of a forgotten team-building strategy.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Breaking: Oklahoma City Thunder star and NBA champion Chet Holmgren has agreed to a fully guaranteed five-year maximum rookie contract extension that could reach $250 million, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball told ESPN. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PsdxZq275C\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/PsdxZq275C<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1942939319590613051?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Thunder Perfected a Forgotten Team Building Strategy<\/h2>\n<p>The NBA and MLB may have different sets of rules when it comes to salaries, but there are similarities. Examples are small markets struggling to compete with large markets. There is no salary cap in MLB, but small markets still struggle. However, one team found a way to compete despite having a small salary, and it was dubbed &#8220;<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.samford.edu\/sports-analytics\/fans\/2019\/The-Moneyball-Science\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moneyball<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The Thunder Perfected the Oakland Athletics Moneyball Strategy<\/h3>\n<p>The Athletics are a historic baseball franchise with a rich history marked by many ups and downs. One of the best feats they ever had was competing with large markets while having a small payroll. This was called Moneyball. Now, the Oklahoma City Thunder have adopted a Moneyball approach, and it has been an enormous success.<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder play in the third-smallest market in the NBA and are the 2024-25 NBA champions. The part about this that should terrify every fanbase is that they aren&#8217;t going away anytime soon. Even after the extensions of Chet and Shai and the eventual Williams extension, Oklahoma City will still be able to compete in this era of the CBA. This is where their version of Moneyball comes into play.<\/p>\n<p>You see, the Thunder initiated this move back in 2019 when they traded <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a> for a record-breaking number of draft picks. The Thunder are still reaping the benefits of this trade, having the Clippers pick in the 2026 draft as well. This allows the Thunder to replace role players with young, inexpensive rookies. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sorbeth01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thomas Sorber<\/a> is an example of this strategy as <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harteis01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a> enters the last guaranteed year of his contract.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_149613\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-149613\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-149613\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26558771_168414264_lowres-1024x764.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26558771_168414264_lowres-1024x764.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26558771_168414264_lowres-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26558771_168414264_lowres-768x573.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26558771_168414264_lowres-1536x1147.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26558771_168414264_lowres-2048x1529.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-149613\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thunder draft pick Thomas Sorber poses for a photo with general manager Sam Presti during a press conference at the First American&#8217;s Museum in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June 28, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Why Is It So Successful<\/h3>\n<p>The easy answer to why this team-building strategy works is the person in charge. Sam Presti is the mastermind behind the scenes and arguably the best general manager in the NBA. He is also a basketball guru, rarely ever missing when it comes to the draft. Presti is responsible for drafting <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giddejo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Giddey<\/a>, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, among others. All of these players have either had lengthy and successful NBA careers or are young players on an upward trajectory. He is also great at drafting in the second round, where he was able to get <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mitchaj01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ajay Mitchell<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wiggiaa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Wiggins<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He is also a persuasive general manager, securing players on team-friendly deals. The most recent examples are Mitchell and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija07.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylin Williams<\/a>. These are long-term contracts that barely impact the salary cap. Wiggins is on one of the best deal in the NBA, as he is on a five-year, $45 million contract.<\/p>\n<p>However, to every bright side, there will be a shadow lingering in.<\/p>\n<h3>The Only Downside to This Team Building Strategy<\/h3>\n<p>The Thunder fanbase will have to say goodbye to some <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/09\/okc-thunder-rumors-chet-holmgren-extension\/\" target=\"_self\">fan-favorite players<\/a>. Hartenstein is likely to move on after the 2025-26 season. Then, the biggest question for Presti is, do you keep <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/carusal01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alex Caruso<\/a> or <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dortlu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luguentz Dort<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>Dort is the longest-tenured Thunder player and just made his first All-Defensive team. Caruso is a veteran with two All-Defensive team nods on a team-friendly deal. Either player can get draft picks back in return. Presti has to decide whether to extend Dort and trade Caruso, or to trade Dort on the last year of his deal and go with the two-time NBA champion.<\/p>\n<p>There is a world in which Presti can keep both, but this would require a pay cut by Dort and Caruso to restructure his contract. With Sam Presti&#8217;s track record, this is not out of the realm of possibility. The scenario is improbable though. Still, what Presti and the Thunder did with their roster is special. It is very reminiscent of the Athletics Moneyball era, except more refined.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a message to every fan base. The Thunder might have some big contracts, but they aren&#8217;t going away anytime soon. Next up for OKC is extending Jalen Williams.<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: \u00a9 Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the recent extensions of Chet Holmgren and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are going to run into the second apron. OKC still have to extend Jalen Williams as well, and he will presumably get the max. So, the Thunder will be paying their trio around 85% of the salary cap. Many teams would crumble under [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":149611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,3,22],"tags":[616,4292,4609,544,1489],"class_list":["post-149577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-thunder","tag-cba","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-jalen-williams","tag-sam-presti","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5432"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149577"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149614,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149577\/revisions\/149614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}