Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Just Signed A Record-Setting $285 Million Contract Extension With The Thunder

ByJoey Heldon July 1, 2025inArticles›Sports News

It’s been a fantastic year for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander . The star guard of the Oklahoma City Thunder won the league’s MVP during the regular season, leading the Thunder to a season-best 68-14 record. The Thunder then advanced through the playoffs and knocked off the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, winning the first title in franchise history. Gilgeous-Alexander was awarded with Finals MVP for his efforts.

Now, he’s signing one of the largest contracts in NBA history.

Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder agreed to a four-year contract extension that will pay him $285 million. The extension won’t kick in until the start of the 2027-28 season, so over the next six years, Gilgeous-Alexander will make a whopping $364 million.

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Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Analyst Bobby Marks broke down the numbers inside Gilgeous-Alexander’s extension. While it doesn’t quite reach the $80 million that seemed possible earlier this year, it’s still hitting wild amounts of money every season. Here’s how much Gilgeous-Alexander will make each year of the new contract:

  • 2027-28: $63,525,000
  • 2028-29: $68,607,000
  • 2029-30: $73,689,000
  • 2030-31: $78,771,000

That’s nearly $78.8 million during the final season of the extension. For context, Stephen Curry was the highest-paid player in the league this year, with a salary worth about $57.7 million. Gilgeous-Alexander’s new deal makes it the richest per-season deal in NBA history.

The All-Star averaged a league-leading 32.7 points during the regular season and 30.3 points in the playoffs. His 32.7 points are the highest by a player who also won a championship that year, eking out Michael Jordan’s 32.6 points in the 1992-93 season. Not bad company to be in!

Gilgeous-Alexander arrived in Oklahoma City in 2019 after his rookie year, a piece in the Paul George trade. The Thunder also received multiple draft picks from the Los Angeles Clippers in that deal. One of those picks turned into Jalen Williams, who Gilgeous-Alexander called “a once in a lifetime player” during his Finals MVP speech.

Williams will likely be getting a massive contract extension very soon, too. For now, Gilgeous-Alexander has more reasons to celebrate. After all, it’s not every day you get to sign one of the wealthiest contracts in league history.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Could Smash The Single-Season NBA Salary Record With His Next Contract

ByJoey Heldon July 22, 2024inArticles›Sports News

NBA teams have handed out plenty of big contracts this summer. Jayson Tatum signed a historic $314 million extension with the Boston Celtics, the largest total-value contract the NBA has ever seen. The 2021 No. 1 pick, Cade Cunningham , could make upwards of a quarter-billion dollars. Ditto for Scottie Barnes , the fourth pick from that draft.

Despite those hefty price tags, none of them are going to make as much in a single season as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander .

The Oklahoma City Thunder star was the runner-up in MVP voting this past season and earned All-NBA First Team status for a second consecutive year. That makes him eligible for a supermax extension next offseason, a deal the Thunder will surely offer.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted , Gilgeous-Alexander can sign a four-year extension worth $294,268,128.

This extension would kick in after Gilgeous-Alexander’s current contract ends in the summer of 2027. In most situations, NBA contracts are backloaded, meaning the final year is the most lucrative. SGA would earn $81,449,214 during the 2030-31 season. To repeat. That’s $81.449 million in salary for a single season of play.

That’s essentially $1 million per game the Thunder play, whether he suits up or not. And it’ll likely be north of that since Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t played a full 82 games since his rookie year.

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Joshua Gateley/Getty Images

As a reminder, Michael Jordan earned just shy of $94 million throughout his entire 15-year NBA career. Granted, he’s made billions thanks to endorsements and investments. And while SGA starred in that very memorable (some might say grating) “What a Pro Wants” commercial , he’s still well behind MJ in that regard.

There’s another interesting wrinkle to this extension, too. Gilgeous-Alexander played his rookie season for the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, in the 2019 offseason, the Clippers traded him, Danilo Gallinari, and five draft picks to the Thunder for Paul George .

One of this offseason’s big moves saw George signing with the Philadelphia 76ers. He claimed the Clippers initially gave him a lowball offer , which led to him looking elsewhere. The Sixers gave him four years and $212 million.

Granted, the Clippers needed to acquire George to get Kawhi Leonard on the roster. Still, it’s wild that they lost an MVP candidate and the guy they traded that candidate for in the span of five years—with only one Western Conference Finals appearance to show for it.

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  • Kawhi Leonard Is Headed To The Los Angeles Clippers – Here’s How Much He’ll Make
  • Four Years Ago, Dennis Schroder Turned Down An $84 Million Contract. He Just Signed For Much Less Than That.