The NBA recently agreed upon a new CBA that will begin in the 2023-24 season, which means new rules will be implemented that could affect how teams operate their payrolls.
In his latest podcast, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons expressed concern over how the new CBA could hurt the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Simmons said that the Thunder might reach a point where they have to decide which of their young core to keep long term — reminiscent of OKC’s previous core where they had to deal James Harden for a multitude of reasons that include the luxury tax.
“I look at a team like OKC and I just don’t know how they’re ever going to build it. They’re trying to build it the old fashion way and be smart and through the draft. And Giddey is gonna be a max guy. Shai is gonna be underpaid eventually… What if Holmgren is awesome? Jalen Williams is going to be a borderline max guy. You can’t have all those guys. I don’t like when teams are smart and get penalized for it,”
With that said though, it seems like the new CBA is actually more Thunder-friendly as it encourages teams to draft well and extend their own players. If the Thunder go over the second tax apron, it’ll only hurt them in acquiring outside talent — something OKC already historically struggles with.
The new CBA also eliminated the restriction that only two players on a roster could be signed under a super-max deal. This means that if the four Thunder players Simmons mentions truly hit their ceiling, then OKC would theoretically be able to extend all four of them if ownership has the stomach to do so.
Under the previous CBA, teams were not able to sign a third player to a super-max extension.
Regardless though, if the Thunder do eventually end up with the problem of having too many good players on their roster, then that’s a good problem to have that can help solve other areas on the roster if needed.
More News!
On this day: Thunder blow 3-1 Western Conference Finals lead vs. Warriors lost in Game 7
On this day: Klay Thompson’s 41 points leads Warriors to Game 6 win vs. Thunder in 2016 WCF
Bleacher Report lists Thunder as the most surprising landing spot for Kristaps Porzingis
Story originally appeared on Thunder Wire