US media: Thunder spends $800 million to avoid repeating mistakes 13 years ago

Hupu reported on October 24th that the US media ClutchPoints posted a Thunder championship poster with accompanying text.

The Thunder have learned from the past. When the Thunder's trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden failed in the 2012 Finals, everyone thought the Thunder would become the next dynasty team in the NBA.

However, everything began to fall apart when the team refused to provide Harden with the maximum salary contract they could offer. Thirteen years later, the Thunder are once again in a similar situation. A young core lineup reached the Finals after just a few years of playing together, but this time, the new Thunder's three young men completed their final mission.

General manager Sam Presti also made sure to spend every penny the team could use to lock in the long-term contract of the third youngster.

In just 14 days, the Thunder spent US$822 million:

-On July 1 last year, signed a 4-year, 285 million contract extension with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

-Signed a 5-year maximum contract with Chet Holmgren Contract extension up to 250 million

-On July 13 last year, Jaylen Williams signed a five-year contract extension up to 287 million

You must know that this general manager officially refused to pay Harden an extra US$2 million per year.

The league is now trying its best to promote "competitive balance", but considering the youth and talent of this Thunder team, this "balance" may not appear in the short term.