OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) 鈥� Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed on a record-setting 4-year, $285 million extension that would give him the highest single-season average salary in NBA history, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Tuesday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been publicly announced and likely won鈥檛 be until the league鈥檚 moratorium on most offseason signings is lifted on Sunday.
ESPN first reported on the agreement.
News of the deal comes on Canada Day, a fitting coincidence for the 26-year-old from Ontario who is coming off a season like few others in NBA history.
Not only did Gilgeous-Alexander lead the Thunder to their first NBA championship and the league鈥檚 best record, he swept most major individual awards 鈥� winning regular-season and NBA Finals MVP honors and the scoring title.
The supermax extension was not unexpected. It was a question of timing; he could have taken a deal with an even higher total value next summer.
Based on the NBA鈥檚 most recent salary cap projections 鈥� the exact numbers will not be finalized until June 2027 鈥� Gilgeous-Alexander would make somewhere around $63 million in the first season and nearly $79 million during the 2030-31 season. That would put him at an average payout of about $1 million per regular season game, and would be the highest single-season salary in NBA history.
Gilgeous-Alexander didn鈥檛 enter the league with superstar expectations. He was the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft, and he was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Thunder after his rookie year. He has been on an upward trajectory ever since, and Thunder general manager Sam Presti believes that will continue.
鈥淗e鈥檚 gotten better every single year,鈥� Presti said. 鈥淗is mindset has allowed him to take these steps and also not 鈥� I don鈥檛 feel like his progress is, like, volatile. I don鈥檛 know if that makes sense, but I don鈥檛 feel like it鈥檚 built on things that can鈥檛 be repeated and built up again.鈥�
Presti referred to Gilgeous-Alexander as a 鈥渂asketball artist鈥� because he has the emotional intelligence to know when to call upon his various gifts.
鈥淚 just think he鈥檚 got left and right brain working, and I think when you think about people that are extremely successful in what they do, they can鈥檛 operate all on one side or the other,鈥� Presti said. 鈥淧eople have to have 鈥� to me, the great people in life, business, sports, any industry, have to be able to access both sides, a creative side and then also a very objective side.鈥�
The Thunder are set to be contenders for years. Their best player is in place long-term, all their major players are under contract through at least next season and Presti has a slew of draft picks stashed from previous trades.
鈥淲e definitely still have room to grow,鈥� Gilgeous-Alexander said after the Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the fun part of this. So many of us can still get better. There鈥檚 not very many of us on the team that are 鈥榠n our prime鈥� or even close to it.鈥�
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report. ___
AP NBA:
Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
