Skip to content

Extensions for Adams, Oladipo push Thunder all-in

Maddie Meyer / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Thunder put another foot forward in their post-KD journey Monday by signing Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo to extensions that will keep the duo away from 2017 restricted free agency and in Oklahoma City through 2021.

In total, the Thunder committed a reported $184 million to Adams and Oladipo over separate four-year deals. The money itself sounds absurd, but given what the new television contract and exploding league revenues have done to the free-agent market, neither deal is outrageous.

While the money itself might not be the story, it is worth considering what the extensions mean for the Thunder's future.

The Thunder may not have had much cap space to play with next summer, regardless, but with Monday's business concluded, they are sure to be capped out and essentially locked into their current core until Russell Westbrook's (and Enes Kanter's) potential free agency in 2018.

Between Westbrook, Kanter, Alex Abrines, Kyle Singler, Domantas Sabonis, Cameron Payne, Josh Huestis, and now Adams and Oladipo, the team has more than $104 million - guaranteed - committed for the 2017-18 season.

Related: 2017-18 salary cap projected at $103 million

The organization has gone all-in on a team that figures to be good, but not great, over the next two seasons, and one that will continue to rely on Westbrook producing at superhuman levels.

That's worked through three games of the 2016-17 season, as Westbrook has averaged 38.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 11.7 assists to lead the Thunder over cellar dwellers like the 76ers, Suns, and Lakers, with OKC barely surviving Philadelphia and Phoenix.

The Thunder aren't devoid of young talent, as the mere presence of players like Adams and Oladipo confirms, but it's also unlikely anyone on the current roster has the upside to make the leap necessary for OKC to internally progress from playoff team to title contender. That includes Westbrook, who can't possibly do more than what he already does without entering a dimension beyond human reach.

What you see is what you're going to get for the next two seasons. This is likely what the Thunder are until Westbrook's free agency, which will roll around a lot quicker than OKC fans want it to.

If that's the case, those fans will have to hope Westbrook remains as attached to Oklahoma City in 2018 as he is in the immediate aftermath of Durant's exile, and as content as he is now with a solid yet unspectacular team relying on him to do things on a basketball court that haven't been seen in decades.

And yet, with all that said, it's tough to find fault in what Sam Presti and Co. have done since Durant spurned them for the Bay Area.

Sure, there are flaws in the current makeup of the Thunder - shooting and offensive versatility among them - and imperfections in their current plan for the future, if you envision a world where it's championship or bust for each of the league's 30 teams.

But Monday's decisions are understandable in a small market that probably wasn't going to be a factor in free agency anyway - a market still reeling from losing a transcendent superstar, where remaining competitive and relevant is essential while trying to appease another.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox