822 million! Thunder spent money to make up for the lessons, and this time he would never make Harden-style mistakes 12 years ago

$822 million! When the Thunder management signed the last deal on the contract extension, the entire league understood: they were making up for the "stupid mistake" 12 years ago. In the summer of 2012, there was regret in the air in Oklahoma City. The Thunder just lost to the Heat in the Finals, but fell a big shot in the offseason - because of the $5 million difference, they let James Harden go. At that time, Presti offered Harden a four-year contract of $55 million, which was 5 million less than the full maximum salary. It was this 5 million that became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Harden was eventually sent to the Rockets, and the Thunder's "Four Young Age" came to an abrupt end.

The Thunder management at that time had not yet learned how to balance the championship ambitions and salary books. Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka already holds big contracts, and Perkins and others' contracts are simply increasing year by year. Coupled with the upcoming hierarchical luxury tax system to be implemented in the 2013-2014 season, they are full of resistance to paying luxury tax. They thought 5 million was just a small amount of money, but they didn't realize that what they let go was the future MVP and the scoring machine that could score 36.1 points in a single season.

How painful is this lesson? Just look at the results later. Harden grew into a top superstar in the Rockets, while the Thunder lost the window period with the most chance to win the championship and did not win the championship again until 2025.

The Thunder is no longer the naughty young man who was too concerned about 5 million. They used three precisely designed contracts to lock the peak of Alexander, Homegren and Jaylen Williams in Russia, while sharing salary pressure for years to come.

Alexander's 4-year 285 million yuan will not reach an annual salary peak of 60.81 million yuan until 2027; Homgren's 5-year 250 million yuan was still in the "rookie bonus" period in the first two years; Jaylen Williams' 5-year 287 million yuan made full use of his growth curve. Currently, Thunder’s total salary is 186 million, which is lower than the luxury tax line and there is plenty of room to go from the two rich lines. Behind this operation is the management's deep understanding of the "window period for champions". After winning the championship in 2025, they are very clear that the golden period of the core lineup is fleeting. Instead of losing big because of small losses like in the past, it is better to spend money in advance to lock in the future - after all, the current 822 million is too cheaper than the price of losing a dynasty.

Look at the current Thunder Three Big Three: Alexander averaged 31.4 points and 5.7 assists last season, was a regular season MVP and the finals MVP; Homegren averaged 18.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, and was the league's best defensive player candidate; Jaylen Williams averaged 18.1 points and 4.4 assists per game, and was making rapid progress on both ends of the offense and defense. The ages of these three people are only 67 years old, and the next five years will be their peak.

Thunder's 822 million is not only the talent of the players, but also a set of blood-and-tear-verified management philosophy: in the NBA, saving money is sometimes more expensive than spending money. The loss of Harden 12 years ago was 5 million, which made them understand that the value of top talents cannot be measured by short-term salary; now they have spent more than 800 million to ensure that such regrets will never happen again.

When Alexander, Homgren, and Jaylen Williams fought side by side in Thunder jerseys, they not only carried 822 million yuan on their backs, but also carried 12 years of waiting for a city. This time, Thunder bet on the future just to stop repeating the past.