How the CBA Is Fueling an Unbelievably Young and Budget-Friendly NBA Finals Rivalry

In a twist that’s shaking up the NBA landscape, the 2025 Finals showcase the Oklahoma City Thunder facing off against the Indiana Pacers — a matchup blending youthful energy with strategic bankroll savvy. We’re witnessing a Finals battle not just for the trophy, but for bragging rights as the youngest champion in nearly half a century. This isn’t just a fun little quirk; it’s a byproduct of the NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement, where pay scales and savvy salary cap maneuvers have become as critical as fast breaks and clutch shots. These two squads are rewriting the playbook, proving that you don’t need to drown in luxury tax penalties to contend — in fact, both teams cleverly hover just under the threshold, maximizing talent while keeping financial flexibility intact. It’s a fascinating dance where rookie contracts and strategic extensions fuel a fresh wave of contenders, poised to make history while balancing the books. And with MVP-level stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and emerging gems like Jalen Williams carving their paths, the future looks bright—and intriguingly affordable—for these franchises. Ready to dive deeper into the numbers and narratives behind this youth-driven revolution? LEARN MORE
Both of this season’s finalists get major contributions from players on cheap rookie deals. Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams earned just .8 million this year. Fellow starter Chet Holmgren is also a bargain at .9 million. Andrew Nembhard, who was selected in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft and is the third-leading Pacer in playoff minutes, was paid million.
This isn’t pure coincidence. The league’s collective bargaining agreement dictates how much money players can earn at various points of their careers, and a second apron rule introduced in the last CBA complicates dynastic ambitions for teams with veteran cores. The youth of the Thunder and Pacers is fundamental to their balance sheets.

0 million – The total value of the record-breaking five-year extension that SGA is eligible to sign in the summer of 2026—a number elevated by his MVP win. Williams and Holmgren, meanwhile, will be up for rookie extensions this offseason.

24.7 – The average age of the Thunder, weighted by playoff minutes, according to Basketball Reference (ages are as of Feb. 1 for apples-to-apples comparisons across seasons). The 1977 Portland Trail Blazers were a tad younger at 24.5 years, but the only other champion since the NBA/ABA merger younger than the Thunder or 2025 Pacers (26.2) was the 1980 Los Angeles Lakers (25.7).

.74 billion – Sportico’s valuation for the Pacers, which ranks 21st in the NBA and ahead of the Thunder’s .55 billion (24th). This is the first year going back to at least 1991 that the Finals featured two of the league’s 10 least valuable franchises, using Forbes’ valuations for seasons prior to 2020.

Haliburton and SGA are in their fifth and seventh seasons, respectively, allowing their franchises the financial flexibility to build robust rosters without an albatross contract gumming up the cap sheet. The Pacers, for instance, traded for Siakam during the 2023-24 season and then re-signed him as a free agent over the offseason. The Thunder were able to make a million per year free agent offer to starting center Isaiah Hartenstein last summer.

0 – The number of NBA championships won by Indiana and Oklahoma City. The Pacers won three ABA championships in 1970, 1972 and 1973, and the Thunder franchise won the 1979 NBA title as the Seattle SuperSonics, but one of these two cities will host its first NBA championship parade later this month.

9.1 million – The total payroll for the 2025 Pacers, per Spotrac, which ranked 18th in the NBA and below the luxury tax threshold of 0.8 million. The Thunder paid 5.6 million in salaries (25th) and also remained below the threshold.

Here are some key numbers about the Thunder and Pacers rosters:

The past two NBA champions were developed with similar timelines. The Denver Nuggets won the title in 2023, the year before Nikola Jokić’s salary shot up to .6 million, and the Boston Celtics won in 2024, the year before Jaylen Brown’s cap hit rose to .2 million under his new supermax contract. 

The 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers is the youngest in nearly 50 years. The eventual winner will have the lowest average age of any NBA champion since 1980.

Valuations are highly correlated with market size. Oklahoma City is the NBA’s third-smallest market (ahead of only New Orleans and Memphis, per Nielsen’s rankings, while Indianapolis is the seventh-smallest).

SGA and Haliburton each signed for the maximum amount allowed by the league’s rules, which is 30% of the salary cap. Only players with at least 10 years of service can be paid up to 35% of the cap, except for players who meet certain awards criteria after their eighth or ninth season.

Historically, teams have had to shell out more money to win. This is the first NBA Finals in the past two decades in which neither team paid the luxury tax, and 14 of the last 18 champions paid some tax, a much higher percentage than the roughly one-quarter of teams that pay it each season.

.2 million – The salary for Indiana’s Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton this season, who are tied as the highest-earners in this series but just the 19^th-highest among all NBA players. NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City made .9 million, having signed his rookie contract extension two summers prior to Haliburton.

Both Finals franchises’ owners should enjoy their low payrolls while they last. If Indiana re-signs free agent Myles Turner, it may be a taxpayer as soon as next season.