Contract Decisions Loom for OKC Thunder as 2023-24 Campaign Comes to a Close

With Oklahoma City's season coming to an end, the team's front office now has multiple roster decisions to make over the offseason.

May 13, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) warms up / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder's impressive 2023-24 run has come to an end.

With a loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals, OKC's season is over. With the finale of what was a solid year for Mark Daigneault and company, the Thunder's front office is now faced with important personnel decisions over the offseason.

Four players from Oklahoma City's roster are set to become free agents this summer with three more players potentially returning on team options.

The two most notable Thunder players with contract changes coming ahead of next season are Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins. If OKC's front office chooses to pick up Joe and Wiggins' team options, then both players will be on the roster again in 2024-25, barring a preseason trade.

If Oklahoma City decides to move on from either Joe or Wiggins, however, they would be able to do so this summer by declining the team option for either player. It seems likely that the team options for both players will be picked up by Sam Presti and company, as Joe's option is only $2 million and Wiggins' option is just $1.6 million for the 2024-25 season.

If the team options for both players are picked up but neither is offered a contract extension, both Joe and Wiggins would become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2025.

The Thunder could also choose to decline the team option for either player and sign Joe or Wiggins to a contract extension, keeping them in the Modern Frontier past the summer of 2025. However the Thunder elect to move forward with the terms of Joe and Wiggins' contracts, it seems likely that both players will be in Oklahoma City next year.

Two-way wing Lindy Waters III also has a team option this summer, worth $1.5 million. After helping lead the OKC Blue to a G League title and serving as an end of the bench player for the Thunder in the postseason, it seems likely that Daigneault and company would pick up Waters' option, but could also elect to move on from the Norman, OK, product to create more roster spots.

The Thunder's front office will also have to make a decision regarding Gordon Hayward's contract over the offseason, as the 14-year-veteran is set to become an unrestricted free agent over the summer.

After averaging just 5.3 points during his stint with Oklahoma City and getting benched in the playoffs, it seems likely that OKC will choose to move on from Hayward and move forward with a younger option on the wing.

Veteran forward Kenrich Williams or G League Finals MVP Ousmane Dieng could fill Hayward's role if the Thunder don't add a perimeter player in the NBA Draft or free agency.

After signing with the team midway through its 2023-24 campaign, veteran big man Bismack Biyombo is also an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Both Olivier Sarr and Keyonte Johnson, who played integral roles in the OKC Blue's championship run but didn't get much time in the NBA this season, are set to become restricted free agents this summer.

Despite four expiring contracts and three team options over the offseason, it seems likely that the Thunder's main rotation will be largely the same in 2024-25. If OKC brings back Joe and Wiggins, the team will have just one minor rotation player to replace heading into next year.

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