The Thunder will break up the core after winning the championship. The three major stars renewal fees exceed 900 million, becoming an uncertain factor in the finals.

The latest report from the famous NBA reporter Shams Sharania, the Thunder was unanimously optimistic that they could easily defeat the Pacers to win the 2025 championship, but the team management has focused on the offseason after the Finals. The Thunder management faced the sky-high contract renewal of Alexander, Homegren and Jaren Williams, with more than $900 million in three core contracts, and had to consider splitting the lineup to avoid huge luxury taxes.

Thunder won 68 wins in the league in the regular season, swept the Grizzlies in the playoffs, defeated the Nuggets in tiebreaks and defeated the Timberwolves in five games to reach the finals. After 13 years of long reconstruction, it was finally successful. At the same time, it was facing similar choices. The young core player's rookie contract period was about to end, and it was time to sign a maximum salary contract. Alexander is eligible for the regular season MVP, and his new contract will reach 5-year and $380 million. Homgren and Jaren Williams entered the Thunder in the 2012 draft. After Jaren Williams was selected for the All-Squad 3rd team and the All-Defensive Team, he can also get a five-year and $290 million maximum salary for 5-year and $270 million. Homgren is also eligible for a five-year and $270 million contract. General Manager Sam Presti faced a similar decision. That summer, the 2012 Finals lost to the Heat Big Three, Harden's contract renewal negotiations broke down, and the Thunder team disbanded early.

"Presti needs to solve more problems this time. Alexander's contract renewal has no suspense. The management must meet his renewal price." Sharania said. "If the Thunder want to maintain the current core lineup to remain competitive, they can only find a way to lower the price in the contract negotiations between Homegren and Jaren Williams." The Thunder have the best young core lineup in the league, which allows them to remain below the salary cap for a period of time. When the reconstruction process has to pay the price, they either give out three super maximum contracts or give up one of the young stars to keep the team's salary structure healthy.

"There is no doubt that in order to keep the lineup intact, the amount of renewal of the contract is destined to be very high." League salary expert Bobby Max analyzed, "including the $380 million super maximum salary contract renewed by Alexander, the contracts of Homegren and Williams are similar to the 2023 Rookie Paul Benkairo." Once the Thunder locks in core players with a long contract, they will pay $940 million to three players in the next four to five years, which is enough to make them continue to become the favorite teams in the championship in the next few years. At the same time, the Thunder will also pay huge luxury taxes, which is unbearable for the Thunder in the small-ball market. Under the new labor and capital agreement, the total salary of a team's players exceeds the second luxury tax collection line and requires a luxury tax of more than $90 million. It is worth mentioning that the players of the Thunder and Pacers are less than $170 million in salary and do not pay any luxury tax to the league. Ten teams paid a total of $460 million in luxury tax. The best performance was that the Timberwolves reached the division finals, the Suns paid $152 million in luxury tax and did not even get the playoff tickets. The Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. With the new labor-capital agreement in effect, any team wants to retain three maximum contract players, which means that the team's rotation lineup will be greatly reduced, and its competitiveness will not be stronger than teams with reasonable lineups and deeper replacement lineups.

"The Thunder have a very good grasp of winning the championship by defeating the Pacers, and then the team's good days will end after winning the finals." Saranya said, "The Thunder cannot maintain this lineup for a long time. Dort and Haltenstein also need to renew their contracts to get a new contract. Presti cannot balance the interests between players no matter what." NBA players have only five seasons in their average career, and it is more urgent to seize the peak period to get more money than to win the championship. Most players give priority to contract years and salary amounts. For the Thunder, it is difficult to give up any young core player, but this is a decision that the management must make.

Williams averaged 20.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 16 games in the playoffs, with a shooting percentage of 45.7% and a three-point shooting percentage of 31.8%. His offensive and defensive performance at critical moments was not inferior to Alexander. Homegren averaged 16.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2 blocks per game in the playoffs, making the defensive end an indispensable part of the Thunder. Presty tried to convince Homegren and Williams to make concessions for the team's long-term plan and renew their contracts with a maximum salary. Several executives confirmed that Presty's efforts have not yet worked. The good news is that the Thunder are about to win the first championship trophy in team history, and the bad news is that this may be the last carnival of the team for a long time.

"The Thunder coaching staff and players are preparing for the finals. This is not just a competition for the championship trophy, but also a competition for the Thunder players to compete for the super top salary." Salanya said. The championship trophy seems to have become the Thunder's pocket, and the competition among players has just begun, which may be the biggest suspense and uncertainty factor in the 2025 Finals.