No excuses are left — it's time for OKC Thunder to pay Cason Wallace

Now that the Oklahoma City Thunder have made the necessary moves to get below the second apron, it's time for the ownership group to buy back some good grace with the fanbase. Time to figure out just how serious they are about this whole contention business.

Facing a ludicrous tax bill of a half-billion dollars, Sam Presti has spent the summer slowly lowering that financial penalty. The final part of a three-part sequence finally happened on Sunday. They dealt Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a salary dump deal.

Even though the Thunder picked up Dort's $17.7 million 2026-27 team option, the writing was on the wall that a move felt inevitable. The 27-year-old is fresh off a down season that saw him regress on both sides of the ball. And with younger replacements on the roster, it made all of the sense in the world for OKC to say goodbye to the longtime starter.

In return, the Thunder received three future second-round picks and a $17 million trade exception that expires in a calendar year. Not the best package, I'll admit. But keep in mind OKC traded Dort at his lowest value. And trying to piece together the title contender for next year, it wasn't afforded the luxury to wait things out and hope he bounces back for a better return at the 2027 NBA trade deadline.

Now, the Thunder have seen their 2026-27 payroll be at a manageable $213 million — a decent reduction from the projected $222 million had OKC rolled the dice and brought Dort back next season. With their recent trade, their tax penalty dropped from $103 million to $19 million — an eye-popping $84 million savings with one simple transaction.

I know NBA fans don't really care about the financial minutiae of the league — nor should they — but you gotta admit, that's a no-brainer decision to make. Nobody outside of Clay Bennett and Thunder ownership cares about how much money they pocket, but it's a shrewd move to make that serves several purposes. Credit to Presti — not a lot of NBA GMs can ballerina their way across the tightrope of building a contender and saving money, but he's done a masterful job at it this offseason.

So far, the Thunder moving on from Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins in cost-cutting moves have also aligned with the basketball side of things. All three were outside of OKC's playoff rotation by the end of the year. And the arrivals of Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz required opening up roster spots somehow. On top of that, the back end of their bench is filled with unproven talent that needs some runway to figure out if they're real NBA rotation players — ala Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber. With those three out the door, that solves that dilemma.

But that luck runs out now. There's no way to justify not backing up the Brink's trucks for Cason Wallace. The 22-year-old figures to be promoted to the starting lineup on a full-time basis. And deservingly so, too. He broke out last season as an All-Defense member and flirted with the steals title. He also stepped up in the NBA playoffs by shooting a ridiculous 48.4% from 3 on 4.1 attempts.

Aside from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace was the only other guy on OKC who played well enough to get a Game 7 win over the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 Western Conference Finals. After his exit interview hinted at his appetite for a larger slice of the on-ball pie, it's time to ensure he's on the Thunder for the remainder of their championship window with a hefty contract extension.

Completing his third season, Wallace has been extension-eligible this offseason. No agreement has yet to be struck between the two sides. Aside from Victor Wembanyama, nobody else from the 2023 NBA draft class has signed a contract extension. In his case, there's definitely some nuance involved in his discussions. As great as he was in the NBA playoffs, he was an inconsistent offensive player in the regular season. His outside shooting numbers have also dwindled over the years. From 41.9% from 3 in his rookie year to 35.6% in his second year and then 35.1% this past year.

That said, the Thunder and Wallace must figure out a contract extension. Preferably before the summer ends. You can't have that hovering over your head this upcoming season. You're just inviting bad vibes. And now that Dort is gone, you're down to just two otherworldly perimeter defenders. If we're being blunt, OKC lost a lot of leverage with this latest trade.

That said, the trade also opened up their checkbook and playing time. The Thunder have kicked the can down the road for a second-apron year. It's time to reward Presti's savvy moves by letting him open up the bank for Wallace. He's helped OKC from the moment he joined in 2023. You don't let go of that type of talent over a few bucks. If that's the case, then it defeats the whole purpose of owning an NBA franchise.

Go all in. Odds are, things will never be as good as they are right now in OKC. The ownership group owes it to Presti, Gilgeous-Alexander and the fans to fork over some dough to keep this window open as long as possible. You don't want to live with regrets that you left meat on the bone in the golden era of Thunder hoops.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: No excuses are left — it's time for OKC Thunder to pay Cason Wallace