If you can’t give the NBA scoring leader, MVP, and Finals MVP a supermax extension, who are you going to give it to?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to the richest contract in NBA history, a four-year, $285 million supermax contract extension worth more than $70 million a season on average, a deal first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.
While that’s a lot of money, it’s also kind of a no-brainer. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and 5 rebounds a game last season, shot 37.5% from 3, is a plus defender, and led his team to 68 wins. He racked up a historic string of accolades: leading the NBA in scoring, winning the regular season MVP award, leading his team to an NBA title, and being named Finals MVP.
72 POINTS THROUGH 2 FINALS GAMES
The MOST by any player EVER to begin a Finals career!!
More history for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pic.twitter.com/DB0w4xtRAn
— NBA (@NBA) June 9, 2025
This new contract also locks SGA in with the Thunder for six years, through the summer of 2031. These four years will start after the two existing years still on SGA’s current contract ($79.1 million total). This new contract would pay him more than $70 million a season for the final two years ($78.9 million in 2030-31). As a bit of accounting, that contract total could decrease slightly before it takes effect — the estimates are based on the NBA salary cap going up 10% a year for the next two years, and the league has already announced that it’s first estimates for the 2026-27 season have the salary cap going up “only” seven percent. If that happens, the total on the contract decreases accordingly, it is 35% of the salary cap.
The Thunder are not done with extensions this summer: Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are both extension eligible off their rookie contracts. Both of them are max players (25% of the cap) who would be eligible for a Rose rule 30% of the salary cap extension if they make All-NBA (or, in Holmgren’s case, is named Defensive Player of the Year) next season. All of those massive extensions mean the NBA’s luxury tax and dreaded second apron will be coming for the Thunder, and how they’ve built out the roster, but that is still a few years down the road.
For now, to the victor go the spoils, and nobody was more of a victor last year than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Published July 1, 2025 11:11 AM
If you can’t give the NBA scoring leader, MVP, and Finals MVP a supermax extension, who are you going to give it to?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to the richest contract in NBA history, a four-year, $285 million supermax contract extension worth more than $70 million a season on average, a deal first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.
While that’s a lot of money, it’s also kind of a no-brainer. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists and 5 rebounds a game last season, shot 37.5% from 3, is a plus defender, and led his team to 68 wins. He racked up a historic string of accolades: leading the NBA in scoring, winning the regular season MVP award, leading his team to an NBA title, and being named Finals MVP.
This new contract also locks SGA in with the Thunder for six years, through the summer of 2031. These four years will start after the two existing years still on SGA’s current contract ($79.1 million total). This new contract would pay him more than $70 million a season for the final two years ($78.9 million in 2030-31). As a bit of accounting, that contract total could decrease slightly before it takes effect — the estimates are based on the NBA salary cap going up 10% a year for the next two years, and the league has already announced that it’s first estimates for the 2026-27 season have the salary cap going up “only” seven percent. If that happens, the total on the contract decreases accordingly, it is 35% of the salary cap.
The Thunder are not done with extensions this summer: Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are both extension eligible off their rookie contracts. Both of them are max players (25% of the cap) who would be eligible for a Rose rule 30% of the salary cap extension if they make All-NBA (or, in Holmgren’s case, is named Defensive Player of the Year) next season. All of those massive extensions mean the NBA’s luxury tax and dreaded second apron will be coming for the Thunder, and how they’ve built out the roster, but that is still a few years down the road.
For now, to the victor go the spoils, and nobody was more of a victor last year than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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