Thunder didn’t trade Lu Dort to avoid the second apron. They did it to cut costs

The Oklahoma City Thunder have no qualms with the second apron. Their cost-cutting summer was just that — cost-cutting.

Trading away three rotation players, including all-defensive wing Lu Dort, for a mishmash of second-round picks was not a basketball strategy. It was, as the team’s general manager Sam Presti said earlier this week, a move to save money.

“This was a financial decision,” Presti told The Oklahoman’s Justin Martinez. “The impression I have been given is that the savings generated this summer, and from being out of the tax the last several years, will be reallocated to future teams. Along with other new well-documented revenue streams, this will allow us to make more basketball-related decisions over the next several years.”

The second apron, a payroll threshold far above the luxury tax, has garnered the attention of the basketball world since its inception in 2023 because of the strategic repercussions that come with going above it. Surpass the second apron, and a team loses its ability to execute most types of trades and most kinds of free-agent signings. Dealing Dort to the Atlanta Hawks dropped the Thunder’s 2026-27 payroll to below the $221.7 million second-apron threshold.

But the Thunder, who remain $14 million above the luxury-tax line, did not trade Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe because the second-apron roster-building restrictions scared them. In the league’s third-smallest market, owner Clay Bennett is sticking to a budget. And losing three players who helped support a contender is the consequence of it.

How the Spurs upended OKC to win the Western Conference

Dan Woike

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Only 13 months ago, the Thunder hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy. They returned in 2025-26 with another chance at a title, falling short in a Western Conference finals that challenged their depth. Star wing Jalen Williams missed much of the season with hamstring injuries. Sixth-man extraordinaire Ajay Mitchell was banged up come the playoffs.

And now, Oklahoma City has chipped away at the depth it had so heavily relied upon.

Wiggins, 27, is off to the Hawks for two second-round picks and no salary in return. Joe, 27, is headed to the Detroit Pistons for a couple of second-rounders, as well, and no salary in return. And this week, OKC agreed to trade Dort, the 27-year-old longtime starting wing who so often guarded the other team’s best player, to the Hawks for three second-rounders and, of course, no salary in return.

This is not the type of trimming that other franchises in the same payroll stratosphere have undergone in recent seasons. It’s not the Phoenix Suns ducking the second apron after proving they weren’t good enough to contend, hoping a series of transactions would both save money and avoid the restrictions of the NBA’s most feared payroll threshold. Oklahoma City won a league-best 64 games last season while also posting one of the greatest point differentials ever, plus 11.1 per 100 possessions. It was a few bounces away from a second consecutive trip to the finals.

These moves were about money — in the short-term, and down the line.

“We have a team that is capable of contention,” Presti told The Oklahoman. “And as I understand it, the decisions this summer have positioned us financially to maintain a team of this caliber.”

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What Our Experts Are Saying

Lu Dort to Hawks? Zaccharie Risacher to Mavs? Trade grades for 3-team swap

One team gets a defensive specialist, one gets the top pick from the 2024 draft and one adds more second-round picks. Which team won?

That turns the spotlight to three players whose direct deposits are bound to increase soon: Cason Wallace, Jared McCain and Mitchell.

Wallace, a 22-year-old defensive menace who becomes increasingly important with Dort gone, is eligible for an extension this summer. His new contract would kick in for the 2027-28 season. If he does not extend, he will become a restricted free agent after the upcoming season.

McCain, who OKC traded for this past winter, is a year behind Wallace’s timeline, about to enter his third NBA season. Next summer, the 22-year-old guard will become eligible for an extension that would start in 2028-29.

Mitchell, 24, is the most interesting case of the three. A former second-round pick who thrived in a vital bench role in just his second professional season, Mitchell is on one of the league’s most team-friendly contracts. He’s set to make just $2.9 million in 2026-27, with a $2.9 million team option for the next year.

The Thunder have three paths to retain him long-term. They could reap the benefits of his cheap salary for the next two seasons, wait until he hits free agency in 2028 and re-sign him then.

They could decline his team option next summer and allow him to become a restricted free agent. This strategy would balloon Mitchell’s salary a year earlier but could also allow for a compromise: To get paid sooner, Mitchell would agree to a lower average annual value on the contract than if he waited the extra year. The Thunder successfully pulled this off with both Joe and Wiggins, inking both to below-market contracts two summers ago.

They could also pick up the team option on Mitchell, then extend him for up to the average player’s salary.

Whichever option they choose, the price for Mitchell will increase dramatically. The same will be true for Wallace, who slid onto all-defense this past season, and for McCain, who fit in seamlessly after arriving in Oklahoma.

Even without those raises, the Thunder are filled with high-salaried players moving forward. The max contracts for Williams and Chet Holmgren begin this upcoming season, when they will both earn $41 million. Two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s supermax deal kicks in for 2027-28, when his salary jumps to a projected $60.6 million. Isaiah Hartenstein, re-signed this summer, will make in the range of $25 million for the next three seasons. Alex Caruso is in the range of $20 million for the same amount of time.

In 2027-28, Williams, Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander, Hartenstein, Caruso, 2026 first-round picks Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz, and McCain will combine to make $213 million, $2 million above the projected luxury tax and only about $21 million short of the second apron. That’s just eight players.

It doesn’t include team options on a couple of recent draft picks, Thomas Sorber or Nikola Topić. It doesn’t include a $7.7 million team option on Jaylin Williams, one of the NBA’s most reliable backup big men. It doesn’t include Mitchell, who could make a cheap salary in 2027-28 or could receive a raise if the Thunder were to decline his team option. It doesn’t include Wallace, whose new contract will hit the books by then. Given the going rate for starters, his annual salary alone could push past $21 million and blast the Thunder into the second apron.

But as Presti said, the front office has no strategic issue with heading into that territory, especially not if the team remains a contender, as is expected. The decisions to offload Dort, Wiggins and Joe were financial ones that weaken the current-day roster.

Now, the Thunder will hope they pay off in the long run.

Thunder didn’t trade Lu Dort to avoid the second apron. They did it to cut costs

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