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The Oklahoma City Thunder will be celebrating for a while after winning their first NBA championship since the team came to OKC, but some players might be celebrating for another reason, too: they're about to get paid.
Three of the Thunder's best players — reigning MVP and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams — will become eligible for very lucrative contract extensions this offseason. While Williams and Holmgren's deals would start a year earlier (in 2026) than his, Gilgeous-Alexander's extension is going to end up being much, much larger than that of his younger teammates.
“The MVP is eligible to sign a four-year, $293.4 million supermax extension ($65.5 million, $70.7 million, $76 million, $81.2 million),” ESPN's Bobby Marks wrote. “Because he has two years left on his contract, the $65.5 million salary in the first year would not start until 2027-28. The extension is unprecedented for two reasons. The $73.3 million average over the four seasons is the highest in NBA history. And next, Gilgeous-Alexander will probably become the first player with a salary of $80 million or more in one season. He led the league in scoring and had 71 straight 20-point games, the fourth-longest streak in NBA history.”
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In August 2021, Gilgeous-Alexander signed a five-year, $179.3 million extension, which kicked in the following year. For the rest of that deal, he will earn $38.3 million next season and $40.8 million in 2026-27. As he does not have a player option in his contract, he cannot, as many other star players do, decline the player option upon signing his extension. He could, however, wait to sign an extension until the summer of 2026, when he could sign for five years and $380 million.
Either way, with his MVP win this season, he is eligible for the ‘supermax' veteran extension, which guarantees that he will make no less than 35% of the salary cap in Year 1 of his contract. Since the cap is expected to continue increasing by 10% each year (the maximum allowed year-to-year jump), the cap is projected to be $187.1 million in 2027-28, $32.5 million more than this season.
To date, Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, has earned every dollar the Thunder have paid him, particularly after Sunday's Game 7 in which Oklahoma City defeated the Indiana Pacers to win the NBA championship. Gilgeous-Alexander, despite major struggles behind the arc, had a game-high 29 points and 12 assists in the win, making it even clearer who was most deserving of the Finals MVP trophy.
