Ahead of the 2021 NBA Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder were in the rumor mill over a possible trade involving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. However, OKC has other plans in store regarding its promising guard.

As noted by Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, the Thunder are slated to soon come to terms with Gilgeous-Alexander on a five-year max contract agreement. The two sides are expected to reach an agreement for this mega-contract ahead of the upcoming season, which could be centered on a $172 million rookie-scale extension deal.

Even up to draft day, there was some chatter over the Thunder's possible interest in trading away the versatile guard in order to move up in the draft. One report noted that the Thunder aimed to acquire the Detroit Pistons' No. 1 overall pick in the draft in exchange for the No. 6 overall pick and Gilgeous-Alexander.

From the Thunder's perspective, this was all mere smokescreen, as the team instead had in mind orchestrating another notable trade.

The report further added that the Thunder had preliminary talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers to acquire their No. 3 overall pick, with whom they ended up taking former USC center Evan Mobley. However, the Thunder did not entertain the idea of shipping off Gilgeous-Alexander in such trade talks, as they only offered the Cavs “present and future draft capital.”

The Thunder well view Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a player who they can build around for the future, and they aim to begin this process by signing him to a max contract deal. From there, the Thunder will look to orchestrate plans on just how to make the most out of their upcoming treasure trove of draft picks.

Gilgeous-Alexander is just coming off of his best season to date in the NBA; he posted career highs in points per game (23.7), assists per game (5.9) and field goal percentage (50.8 percent). More so, he notched 10 30-plus point games over the campaign, which included a 32-point showing against the Dallas Mavericks.