Explaining the NBA's mutual option trend: Could it be used to fight back against the dreaded second apron?

In late June, the Oklahoma City Thunder re-signed Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $75 million contract. On the surface, it was a pretty standard deal for a high-end starting center -- until you looked at the fine print. Included was a mutual option for the 2028-29 season, the final year of the deal. ESPN's Bobby Marks told Jake Fischer that it was the first mutual option he could remember in a contract since the Toronto Raptors gave Jerome Williams one in 2001. In fact, according to Fischer, several teams didn't even know such options were possible.

And yet, as he so often has, Thunder…