Why OKC Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Could See a Pay Raise in the Coming Years

On Friday, ESPN NBA front office insider Bobby Marks published a story about multiple players around the league who could put themselves in position to earn a supermax contract extension.

To be eligible for this massive payout; players must be in the final two years of their current deal, have spent seven seasons in the league without changing teams since their first four years and earn an All-NBA or Defensive Player of the Year nod in two of the previous three award cycles.

This year, there are a handful of players who could become eligible for the supermax extension in 2024 or 2025. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Luka Doncic, Pascal Siakam, Brandon Ingram, Bam Adebayo, Jaren Jackson Jr. and De'Aaron Fox could all earn supermax eligibility in one of the next two summers with stellar performances in 2023-24.

Gilgeous-Alexander falls into this category after earning the first All-NBA selection of his career in 2022-23. The former Clipper has spent five seasons in the league with the last four coming in OKC.

This means that if Gilgeous-Alexander is able to muster another All-NBA honor in 2023-24, the 25-year-old would be able to receive a supermax contract extension offer from the Thunder in the summer of 2025, after playing his seventh season in the NBA.

In this scenario, Oklahoma City would be able to give Gilgeous-Alexander a whopping four-year, $258 million offer sheet that no other team around the league would be able to duplicate. If Gilgeous-Alexander is eligible for this extension, the Thunder front office would likely have no problem offering their star guard as much as he is able to earn.

Gilgeous-Alexander's extension would kick in during the 2027-28 season.

Just ahead of the 2021-22 season, SGA agreed to a five-year, $172 million rookie maximum extension with OKC, keeping him on the roster through at least 2026-27.

Despite averaging 24.5 points on 45.3% shooting after receiving this extension in 2021-22, Gilgeous-Alexander exploded for 31.4 points per game while shooting 51% from the field in 2022-23. If the Canadian guard is able to replicate his performance from last season, he will almost certainly make one of the three 2023-24 All-NBA teams.

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