Thunder, Cavs Are NBA Title Contenders on a Budget—for Now

In a sports landscape filled with record contracts, some NBA teams are showing it’s possible to build a championship contender without breaking the bank.

The NBA playoffs tip off Saturday, and the Thunder and Cavaliers, the No. 1 seeds in the Western and Eastern conferences, respectively, are among the bottom half of the playoff teams in terms of payroll, according to data from Spotrac. Neither team had to pay tax penalties this season.

The Timberwolves lead the list by nearly $50 million over the second-place Celtics (the Suns would be ahead of Minnesota, but they missed the postseason). Boston, however, is expected to have a record payroll next year of about $500 million—more than half of which will come from tax penalties.

Of the 14 confirmed playoff teams, 10 have multiple players signed to max contracts. The only teams that do not are the Clippers, Thunder, Magic, and Pistons. The last three are in the bottom five of the entire NBA.

Detroit, the No. 6 seed in the East, has the lowest payroll among all NBA teams at $141.6 million—about $9 million less than No. 29 Orlando. The Pistons even had to sign an additional player in December to be able to hit the NBA’s minimum salary floor. 

Time to Pay Up

Oklahoma City, the favorite to win the NBA championship per FanDuel, has a payroll of $165.6 million, third-to-last among playoff teams. Its roster construction has been the envy of the NBA as GM Sam Presti built a team around a max player (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), several young pieces still on rookie-scale contracts (Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace), and veteran players on manageable deals (Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso).

However, the bill may soon be due, as many of their stars are expected to sign rookie extensions in the coming years. Holmgren and Williams are both eligible for extensions this summer and will likely command max contracts. Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP favorite, will be eligible for a supermax contract this summer that would be worth close to $300 million over four years. 

Cleveland, on the other hand, is already preparing to take a hit. The Cavaliers are projected to jump to the third-highest payroll next year and will be a luxury-tax violator. The culprits are the three-year, $150.3 million extension for Donovan Mitchell and the five-year, $224.2 million extension for Evan Mobley, both of which kick in next season.