How Thunder Cut Over $300M in NBA Salary Cap, Tax Payments for 2026-27 After 3 Trades

The Oklahoma City Thunder have spent the past few seasons building one of the best rosters in the NBA, but with the team's success comes financial implications.

This offseason has been all about ensuring long-term financial flexibility for the Thunder.

By trading Aaron Wiggins, Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe over the past month, OKC has managed to shed about $323 million in cap space and tax payments. ESPN's Bobby Marks broke down how Thunder general manager Sam Presti managed to pull it off.

The moves give Oklahoma City the flexibility to extend key players like Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell in the coming years. The Thunder were also able to avoid parting ways with their core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

Of course, the absence of Dort, Wiggins and Joe will be felt. Dort is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and both Wiggins and Joe gave the Thunder solid minutes off the bench.

OKC picked up Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz through the draft, and with the Thunder having some of the best player development coaches in the league, those two rookies could help replace what the team lost this offseason.

Teams find success in today's NBA when they can both put together a talented roster while keeping financial flexibility, and the Thunder are arguably doing that better than any other team.

Oklahoma City's title window is still wide open, and the added cap space will only help in keeping key players on the roster.