NBA

Thunder sign C Chet Holmgren to five-year, $250 million contract extension

The days of franchises auto-maxing good young players will come to an end soon, but apparently not yet. With a more restrictive collective bargaining agreement than ever before, teams like the Thunder will face harsh penalties for high payrolls. Thus, extensions such as this one could become paralyzing.

None of that phased Oklahoma City. Holmgren is a rising talent and one of the best defenders in the sport, but that doesn’t make him worthy of this deal. In addition, the club also will presumably be handing Jalen Williams a similar contract this summer, giving the Thunder three max players. That’s obviously a lot, and will certainly hamstring the organization’s future team-building efforts.

Meanwhile, in the short term, Oklahoma City is in a fantastic spot. Coming off an NBA championship, rewarding this extension to Holmgren was the path of least resistance. Basically every franchise would’ve done the same thing if in the Thunder’s position, but that doesn’t make it the correct call. The second-apron reaper will come for the Thunder — just not today.

Grade: C

76ers sign PF Dominick Barlow to two-way contract

This is fine. Barlow is a decent choice to fill the back of a roster, although he lacks positional size and shooting ability, At 22, perhaps he’ll continue to improve, and that’ll be on the 76ers to find out.

Barlow averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last season.

Grade: B