Thunder: Kendrick Perkins 'didn't have a crazy number in mind'

Look who's laughing now.

After a whirlwind free agency period finally came to some sort of calm with Sunday's start to the regular season, the Thunder, which didn't make a single splash, came out as the big winners. And it's all thanks to the once-ridiculed extension for Perkins being in place before the frenzy.

The Thunder has Perkins locked up for a relatively cheap $8 million per year over the next four seasons. His peers commanded nearly two times that amount this offseason.

Denver broke the bank by giving Nene $65 million over five years. New York backed in a Brinks truck to Tyson Chandler's home and splurged $56 million over four years for his services. Memphis gave Marc Gasol roughly $58 million over four years to continue anchoring its frontcourt alongside Zach Randolph.

The Thunder, though, never allowed the bidding for Perkins to begin. And when OKC offered a respectable deal, Perkins pounced.

“I'm a country boy,” Perkins said the day he signed last spring. “I'm from Beaumont, Texas. I didn't have a crazy number in mind.”

Good thing, too.

Imagine what Perkins, who is now healthy, could have commanded on the open market. And remember, we're talking about a player who was considered the best low-post man defender in basketball during his best days. When you consider that, at 27, Perk's best days are only beginning, it's scary to think how exorbitant his figure could have become.