For the first time with this group, the Oklahoma City Thunder had to experience the hardship of the NBA's faux-hard cap rules. To avoid going over the dreadful second apron and face tax penalties, they said goodbye to three longtime role players and developmental success stories.
Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins were all dealt out East. The three separate moves netted seven future second-round picks. More importantly, though, zero players were added back for OKC. Now, they're $6.9 million below the second apron with an open roster spot.
If you're a Thunder fan and feel icky about prioritizing saving OKC ownership's money over building out the best possible roster amid their championship window, I get it. But Sam Presti and the rest of the front
office threaded the needle as seamlessly as you could hope.
That said, the Thunder will feel some short-term consequences. Even though all three players were outside of OKC's rotation by the end of the 2026 NBA playoffs, they made up one-quarter of their rotation minutes. Or around 10K minutes. That's a lot of playing time to make up for. How that materializes in the 2026-27 regular season is one of the more underrated storylines.
In his 2026-27 preseason press conference, Presti sympathized with OKC fans who felt like the Thunder had the wrong goals this summer. You're a year removed from an NBA championship and finished five wins shy of going back-to-back. Why the steps backwards?
"This might be maybe breaking the code for people in my position, but I think it's OK to feel disappointment when those things happen," Presti said. "Because as long as you can separate the professional from the personal, I welcome the personal part of that. Because those guys, in my opinion, were such great Thunder players because they're underdogs."
Basketball reasons aside, all three were stellar developmental stories for the Thunder. Dort was an undrafted two-way player. He became a seven-year starter and helped OKC win an NBA championship. Wiggins was the No. 55 pick. He turned into a legitimate rotation piece. And Joe was collected off waivers after two forgettable years on the Philadelphia 76ers. He's one of the best 3-point shooting bench players in the league.
The Thunder hope they can enjoy similar developmental success with their next group of complementary pieces. Nikola Topic, Thomas Sorber, Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz all have higher draft pedigree — all recent top-16 draft picks — but have 10 combined NBA games. There's a lot of mystery surrounding that quarter. But most project them to carry the baton as the next generation of OKC role players for the remainder of this contention window.
"But yeah, it's certainly disappointing but also necessary for us to transition, as I said before," Presti said. "And hopefully create another foundation that can take us into the Continental Coliseum and hopefully beyond that because the team is positioned very well to do that."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Does Sam Presti 'feel disappointment' over OKC's cost-cutting moves?
