Oklahoma City Thunder

Cost-managed the championship core with ruthless discipline: traded Lu Dort ($17.7M) to Atlanta for three second-rounders in a salary-shedding three-team deal, then reinvested part of the savings in Spencer Jones's unmatched 2yr/$12M offer sheet — a rare RFA poach from a rival contender. The SGA-Holmgren-Jalen Williams nucleus remains elite with Hartenstein locked in (3yr/$75M). Dort's point-of-attack defense is a real loss, but Jones, Wallace and Caruso keep the perimeter identity intact at a fraction of the cost. Still the West's standard until proven otherwise.

2026-27 figures from Spotrac, refreshed weekly. View full cap sheet on the Salary Cap page.