The Thunder made significant progress on building a new arena. According to Jessie Christoper Smith of The Oklahoman, the Oklahoma City city council on Tuesday authorized a development deal with the Thunder ownership for a new downtown arena.
A one-cent sales tax for 72 months was previously unanimously approved by Oklahoma City voters to finance the construction of a new arena with a minimum budget of $900 million.
As per the revised deal, the city would first spend the $78 million that was initially intended to be used for upgrades to the Paycom Center. The city would then use a minimum of $772MM from the sales tax after spending $50MM that the Thunder ownership had donated.
The team and the city will collaborate to develop an early goal schedule that may see the arena finished as early as June 2028. The goal of the city government has consistently been to finish the arena before the 2029–2030 season. In the event that the city misses the 2030 deadline, Thunder ownership may terminate the contract.
We now know more about the Thunder:
They must make a fascinating choice regarding Aaron Wiggins, who has developed into a useful rotational player. They have a $1.99MM option on Wiggins’ contract for the next season, but they also have the option to reject it and turn Wiggins into a restricted free agency. Then, like when they locked up Luguentz Dort, they might sign him to a long-term contract, as noted by Ryan Stiles of Sports Illustrated.
According to John Hollinger of The Athletic, the Thunder have the chance to maximize their resources and get one more impact player because a few important players are still on rookie contracts. The postseason demonstrated that their biggest need is for a secondary, big-hitting playmaker, but finding and signing the proper personIt will be challenging to replace that hole.
For the record, Gordon Hayward was not happy with how little he played during the postseason.
