Losing Kevin Durant has not saved the Oklahoma City Thunder from a whirlwind of expenses.
They have already upped Russell Westbrook’s salary for the right to delay his free agency an extra year, and now, with the league’s deadline for extensions fast approaching, they’re talking turkey with both Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo, according to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Sources: OKC engaged with Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo reps on rookie extension talks. Discussing Adams $100M-range, Oladipo $80M-range.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 30, 2016
If the Thunder are already dangling $100 million or more in front of Adams, chances are pretty good that the two sides will reach an agreement soon. Oladipo is a different story, though. He was looking for a max extension over the offseason, and that’s unlikely to have changed now, a mere two game into his 2016-17 season. It feels like he will hit restricted free agency over the summer if the Thunder don’t raise their offer to Adams levels.
And that’s not too much of a big deal.
Letting Oladipo hit restricted free agency doesn’t actually make him a flight risk, just potentially more expensive. The Thunder will have the right to match any offer he receives; the upshot is that, with the salary cap set to climb again, there’s most likely at least one team willing to throw max money Oladipo’s way. Same goes for Adams.
So if the Thunder don’t commit to paying either of these two now, it doesn’t mean they don’t intend to keep them. Rather, it means they’ll likely want to keep their books as flexible as possible before making any decisions or committing to paying one or two more max deals.
Andre Roberson, for what it’s worth, is extension-eligible as well. But it seems like he’ll hit restricted free agency, if only because his offensive value on a team that doesn’t run out two top-five superstars is worse than unclear.
