Got all that? Good. As the Thunder have neither paid the tax nor gone above the second apron yet, this means they are still four taxpaying seasons away from the repeater penalty and three second apron seasons away from seeing a first-round pick drop to No. 30 overall. This begs the question of when that cycle will actually start for them.

The NBA champion is set to move to a new downtown OKC arena in 2028. That means only three more seasons will be played at Paycom Center. The $900 million construction cost guarantees the Thunder will stay in OKC through 2053 once it signs a new long-term lease.