After earning the top-seed in the Western Conference in 2023-24, the Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves outclassed by the Dallas Mavericks in the conference semifinals, losing to Luka Doncic and company in six games.

The young Thunder took note of their shortcomings in that series and went into this summer determined to address them as best they could. They gave a big contract to Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency to provide the rebounding and rim protection at center they were lacking alongside Chet Holmgren, and traded Josh Giddey to the Bulls for Alex Caruso, upgrading their backcourt rotation alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, adding a better defender and a player more comfortable off the ball.

Those moves have allowed OKC to jump out to a 22-5 start to their season, once again moving to the top of the West, even with Holmgren missing most of the season with a hip injury. On Sunday, the Thunder made sure that their acquisition of Caruso wouldn’t be a one-year rental, signing the guard to a 4-year, $81 million contract extension, per Shams Charania. Caruso gets some long-term financial stability and a healthy raise off of the ~$10 million he’s making this year, locking himself into a situation that seems ideal for his talents.

For the Thunder, they make sure to take one of their top free agents off the board early and make Caruso part of their foundational core group, as he’s quickly made a seamless fit into the Oklahoma City ecosystem. For this contract to be a value deal down the line, they’ll need Caruso to shake out of a career-worst shooting funk (27 percent from three), even if he can’t replicate his sharpshooting from a year ago (40.8 percent in Chicago). Still, what he allows them to do in terms of keeping an elite wing defender on the floor at all times along with or opposite Luguentz Dort makes them a truly hellacious defense to deal with, and if the shooting even returns to a league-average mark, this could end up being another high-value deal for the Thunder.