An important turning point for Thunder this season is the possible extension for Alex Caruso.

Since the end of the 2023-24 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder front office has found several ways to enhance what was already a contending roster. One of the notable moves Thunder GM Sam Presti and his staff made was trading Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso.

Like most trades around the league, it will be unclear whether the deal was worth it for each respective side until further down the road. While there are always instant reactions and short-term implications, every deal has its complexities. In this particular trade, Caruso makes the Thunder a better team now, but is entering the final year of his contract in the 2024-25 season.

As such, if Oklahoma City isn’t able to retain the back-to-back NBA All-Defensive Team member, it would ultimately be swapping a high-upside 21-year-old in Giddey for a one-year rental of Caruso.

Without a doubt, the Thunder made this deal with the goal of giving Caruso a longer contract so that he would be a key member of this squad for the ensuing few years. Despite being thirty years old, he still seems to have many years of elite basketball remaining in him. Caruso and his camp are probably interested in the same things, especially since he will have the opportunity to play for a championship with this team in OKC and has connections to the organization from his time spent with the franchise’s G League affiliate under coach Mark Daigneault early in his career.

Caruso becomes eligible for a four-year extension in the neighborhood of $80M exactly six months from the date of the trade, meaning late December of this year. While a deal doesn’t have to be made the day he becomes eligible, it’s in Oklahoma City’s best interest to integrate him into the roster and have early success as a team to make those conversations even easier leading up to that milestone.

When asked earlier this summer about the potential extension he could sign with the Thunder during the upcoming season, Caruso was more focused on the present moment but gave kudos to the organization.

“That conversation is for another place and time. I know what Oklahoma City as an organization stands for,” Caruso said. “I can obviously tell they’ve done a good job at bringing together a good team. I think for now, I’d just like to meet my teammates and get to work.”

On paper, the fit between Caruso and the Thunder is perfect. He’s a low-usage piece who shoots the ball well from beyond the arc and scores efficiently without taking too many shots from the team’s stars. He is also one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders and a true game-changer on that end of the floor.

If Oklahoma City is able to get off to a hot start to the 2024-25 campaign, integrate Caruso successfully, and get an extension done at roughly $20 million per year, it will be a perfect scenario for the Thunder. Especially given his existing relationship with GM Sam Presti and coach Mark Daigneault, there’s a high probability everything works out in OKC’s favor.