822 million to renew the contract of the third young master! The second and third masters have the final rookie bonus. The Thunder are still the favorites to win the championship in the new season.

The countdown to the new season is one day away. Looking back on last season, the Thunder, as the team with the best regular season record (68 wins and 14 losses), finally won the championship trophy as they wished.

Two years ago, the Thunder ranked tenth in the Western Conference in the 2022-23 season, and the team started a complete reconstruction after losing to the Rockets in the first round tiebreaker in 2020. They missed the playoffs for three consecutive years in 2021, 2022, and 2023. From 2023 to now, the Thunder actually completed the dual tasks of rising and winning the championship in only two years. How did they do it?

In the 2022-23 season, the Thunder's defensive efficiency ranked 14th in the league; in the 2023-24 season, the Thunder's defensive efficiency ranked fourth in the league; last season, the Thunder's defensive efficiency jumped to first in the league.

There is no doubt that defense is the foundation for the Thunder's rise.

Dort, Holmgren, Alexander, Jaylen Williams, and Carson Wallace formed the chain of defense changes in the process of the Thunder's rise. Many players are both offensive and defensive. In the 2023-24 season, the Thunder took the small, fast, and smart defensive characteristics of the small ball lineup to the extreme - 57 wins and 25 losses, ranking first in the Western Conference, and it was a matter of course.

But the Thunder encountered a special type of opponent in the second round of 2024: the Mavericks had many large frontcourt players in Gafford, Lively, and Washington. The two "bamboo pole-shaped" insiders of Holmgren and Jaylin Williams were rushed out of the penalty area by the Mavericks' muscles. The No. 1 player in the Western Conference was defeated in the second round.

The defeat in the Western Conference semifinals in 2024 made the Thunder in 2025. Failure is the mother of success. Presti also recognized the inherent shortcomings of the Thunder's lineup structure. He introduced big center Hartenstein and traded 21-year-old Gidi for the 30-year-old Caruso. The Thunder lineup completed the final upgrade - there are blue-collar meat shields and space turrets in the inside reserves, truly realizing the ability to switch between large and small without any shortcomings.

The Thunder not only won the 2025 championship, Alexander was elected the regular season MVP, Jaylen Williams was selected to the All-Star + Best Third Team + Best Second Defense for the first time, Dortmund was selected to the Best Defensive First Team, and truly ushered in a super harvest season.

What’s even more frightening is that this is only the second year that the Thunder have returned to the playoffs. They will remain in the first tier of the Western Conference for many years to come!

As the 2025 NBA championship, defending the title is undoubtedly the Thunder's primary goal in the new season.

Let me tell you a "ghost story" first. Jaylen Williams, the Thunder's second boss, will only have a salary of 6.58 million next season! The biggest advantage of the Thunder defending their title is obviously the rookie bonus. The large rookie contract is the fundamental basis for them to win another championship.

In the new season, second-in-command Jaylen Williams and third-in-command Chet Holmgren are both in the fourth year of their rookie contracts. In addition, important rotation Carson Wallace is in the third year of his rookie contract. Topic, Sauber, and Ajay Mitchell all have rookie contract bonuses of more than two years-six rookie contract bonuses, which is terrifying to think about.

The Thunder have no salary pressure in the new season. Alexander, the team's highest-paid MVP, will have a salary of 38.33 million for the 2025-26 season. The team's current total salary is 186.9 million, and the luxury tax threshold is 187.8 million. In other words, the Thunder will not have to pay luxury tax in the new season, participate in luxury tax dividends, and can also compete for the championship. The operation of the Thunder Godfather in recent years is simply incredible.

The Thunder have already won one championship and have no performance baggage. In order to reassure people, Presti chose to renew the contracts of Alexander, Jaylen Williams, and Holmgren with large sums of money, so that the champions of the championship will have no worries and go all out to strive for the second championship.

On July 1, 2025, the Thunder gave Alexander a 4-year, 285 million contract extension in advance; on July 10, the Thunder gave Chet Holmgren a 5-year maximum of 250 million; on July 11, the Thunder gave Jaylen Williams a 5-year maximum of 287 million - a massive 822 million to retain the core trio of championship contenders.

Since the new season is the last year of the rookie contracts of Jaylen Williams and Chet Holmgren, this also means that the 2025-26 season is the best chance to defend the Thunder's roster before the salary explosion.

Presti made early plans, and the Thunder's championship window will be before 2027.

Alexander will implement the super maximum salary starting from the 2027-28 season, and his salary will increase from 40.81 million in the 2026-27 season to 60.81 million; the Thunder will also give Jaylen Williams and Holmgren two salaries of more than 40 million - the total salary of the new three young players will exceed 140 million. If the current main lineup is retained, the team's total salary will trigger the luxury tax of 510 million US dollars.

None of this is a problem for Presti. The Thunder’s salary structure has room for maneuver: Harten (28.5 million), Dortmund (18.22 million), and Kenrich Williams (7.16 million) are all ball players in the 2026-27 season. Team options, Isaiah Joe (11.32 million) and Jaylin Williams (7.77 million) are also team options for the 2027-28 season, which means that the Thunder can choose to make additional investments or stop losses in time based on their playoff performance in 2026.

Once the Thunder successfully defend the title in 2026, the Thunder have a chance to win three consecutive championships. The 2026-27 season is the last season bonus before the salary explosion. Harten and Dortmund can be renewed at a more reasonable price to continue the championship;

The Thunder still have two seasons to give it a try. The results of the 2026 playoffs and the 2027 playoffs will ultimately determine the team's future lineup. Before Alexander's super maximum salary takes effect, the Thunder can advance or retreat without panic.

Depth, defense, and the new three young men, this is the basic plan for the championship Thunder to continue to compete for the championship next season..

Starting: Harten, Holmgren, Jaylen Williams, Dort, Alexander

Substitutes: Caruso, Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams, Dieng, Ajay Mitchell

These thirteen people have all appeared in the playoffs this year. The Thunder is a team that specializes in long rotations. In the finals, they can play 10-12 rotations with the Pacers, which is terrifying.

The Thunder ranked first in the league in defensive efficiency in the regular season last season at 106.6, and ranked first in the league in defensive efficiency in the playoffs at 105.7. Defense is undoubtedly the foundation for the Thunder to settle down.

Alexander, Dort, Jaylen Williams, Holmgren, Harten, Wallace, and Caruso are all high-quality defenders, and the Thunder can use both twin-tower lineups and small lineups-when Caruso takes the top position at the 5th position, the Thunder also found its ultimate five-out shape in this year's playoffs.

This year’s offseason, the Rockets and Clippers have been wildly expanding their equipment, and the Nuggets have also improved their bench depth, but they must face up to the Thunder’s strength: a rotation depth of more than 10 people, the league’s best defense, MVP+ scoring champion Alexander is 27 years old, Jaylen Way is 24 years old, and Holmgren is 23 years old.