Why the Oklahoma City Thunder haven't let market size stunt their potential
INDIANAPOLIS — As the Oklahoma City Thunder sit one win away from their first NBA title, there is no shortage of reasons that serve as the backbone for their success. From the franchise-altering Paul George trade to the similarly significant 2022 NBA Draft, Sam Presti and the front office have nailed a lot of big decisions.
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But there is one other thing that has helped the Thunder outrun the rest of the league: Oklahoma City, despite being in the third-smallest media market in the league, acts in many ways like a big-market team.
The NBA's collective bargaining agreement sets a salary cap for all 30 teams and has made the new second apron, essentially, a de facto hard cap in the eyes of many executives and agents. That puts an opportunity cost to every dollar spent on player salary, but there is no such limitation to money spent on the rest of the organization.
Team executives around the league believe the Thunder have one of the largest front offices in the NBA and are among the league's biggest spenders on its basketball operations staff. The Thunder have 88 employees in their basketball operations department, according to a publicly available media guide. As a comparison, the New York Knicks have 92. The Los Angeles Lakers have just 56.
Oklahoma City also offers its top executives a kind of job security rarely seen around the league and is able to keep them for longer. That stability is a credit to the franchise's prosperous path over the last two decades but also to its ability to retain front-office talent. Thunder general manager Sam Presti has been in Oklahoma City for 18 years. Wynn Sullivan has spent 13 years with the team and Jesse Gould has been there for 16 years — both are now VPs of basketball operations. Rob Hennigan, another VP, is in his 12th season with the Thunder, bookending a stint as Orlando Magic general manager.
Despite the team's success, only a few of its top front-office members have departed over the last decade. Hennigan left in 2012 and returned five years later. Troy Weaver had a 12-year run as a top Thunder executive before he left to be the Detroit Pistons GM in 2020. Michael Winger, now president of basketball for the parent group of the Washington Wizards and Mystics, spent eight seasons as Thunder assistant GM before he left for the LA Clippers in 2018. Wizards GM Will Dawkins spent 15 years in Oklahoma City, working his way up from intern to VP of basketball operations.
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The organization isn't just about winning on the margins; it spends money when it needs to. The Thunder have paid $106.44 million in luxury tax since 2002, according to Spotrac, which is the 12th most among all teams in that time. By comparison, the Memphis Grizzlies, the NBA's smallest media market, have only paid the luxury tax in two seasons and not since 2005; the New Orleans Pelicans, the second-smallest market, have never paid the tax. San Antonio, the fifth-smallest market, has paid $17.51 million since 2002. The only outlier in that group that could compare is the Milwaukee Bucks, who are in the fourth-smallest NBA market and have paid $188.67 million in tax over the last four seasons.
All of that spending was concentrated in a six-year period at the end of last decade, when the Thunder chased a championship during the end of the Kevin Durant era and during the last few seasons Russell Westbrook remained in Oklahoma City. When the Thunder paid $61.62 million in luxury tax during the 2018-19 season, it was the second most any team had ever been taxed up until that point.
That willingness to spend big could soon become an issue as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren become extension-eligible this summer. How the Thunder navigate that may decide how long their reign could last. But if the past is any indicator, Oklahoma City won't be afraid to outspend its market size.
What is the financial benefit of an NBA Finals appearance for a team? Look no further than Indianapolis last week, where the Pacers hosted a finals game for the first time in 25 years. There was plenty of energy for the team all across the city, with Pacers signage, shirts and fandom visible everywhere downtown.
Maybe that's because the Pacers team store was doing such brisk business. The store had roughly $200,000 in sales on the day before Game 3, which is about 100 times the amount it usually has on a similar day in the calendar when the team is not in the finals.
(Photo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Sam Presti celebrating after the Thunder won the Western Conference finals: David Sherman / NBAE via Getty Images)
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