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Oklahoma City Thunder All-NBA prima and champion Jalen Williams has agreed to a five-year maximum rookie declaration hold that could scope $287 million, agents Bill Duffy and Justin Haynes of WME Basketball told ESPN connected Thursday.
After becoming the second-youngest squad successful NBA past to triumph a title, the Thunder present person semipermanent commitments from their Big 3 of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26), Williams (24) and Chet Holmgren (23) to play unneurotic and vie for championships done the remainder of the decade.
Gilgeous-Alexander officially signed a four-year, $285 cardinal ace max connected Tuesday and Holmgren reached a five-year, $250 cardinal max connected Wednesday -- with the 3 caller extensions present totaling up to $822 million.
Williams suffered a implicit teardrop of the scapholunate ligament successful his close wrist connected April 9 and played done the wounded aft missing 2 weeks successful March owed to a strain successful the wrist. Williams elaborate connected his YouTube astir his acquisition playing the remainder of the play with the superior wounded successful his close wrist, which was heavy taped and received attraction specified arsenic pain-killing and anti-inflammatory injections.
He underwent country to repair the wrist aft the Thunder's Finals victory.
Williams, the Thunder's No. 12 wide prime successful the 2022 draft, earned All-NBA and All-Defensive squad honors aft a stellar 3rd play successful Oklahoma City. He had a vocation year, averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists connected 48.4% shooting from the field.
At 6-foot-6, Williams is 1 of the champion perimeter defenders successful the league, utilizing his much than 7-foot wingspan to onslaught passing lanes, deter drives and support the rim. He led the NBA successful points per nonstop isolation allowed among players to support astatine slightest 125 isolations, per GeniusIQ.
Williams came up immense successful large moments successful OKC's tally to the city's archetypal NBA title, highlighted by a 40-point show successful a pivotal Game 5 of the Finals. He was the third-youngest subordinate to people that galore points successful a Finals crippled successful the past 50 years (1980 Magic Johnson and 2021 Russell Westbrook). Overall, Williams and co-star Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 1,180 points successful the playoffs, the fourth-most by a duo successful a azygous postseason successful NBA history.
In the Finals, Williams accrued his scoring full successful each of the archetypal 5 games, going from 17 to 19 to 26 to 27 to 40 points, becoming the archetypal subordinate to summation his scoring output successful each of his archetypal 5 vocation Finals games all-time erstwhile signaling astatine slightest 15+ points successful each game
Williams was 1 of 4 players with 1,400 points and 100 steals past season, on with Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and James Harden.
The Thunder volition participate their 3rd play of rubric contention successful 2025-26 portion being nether the luxury tax, a byproduct of having a unsocial roster built astir 3 young stars and cardinal rotation finds connected agelong deals to supply depth.
In 2026-27, the Thunder task to person a payroll of $246 million, which volition instrumentality them implicit the archetypal and 2nd apron, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks. However, dissimilar caller high-spending teams, Oklahoma City has the flexibility with $77 cardinal successful non-guaranteed contracts. Oklahoma City has dozens of draught picks and has structured their contracts successful aboriginal years to enactment them successful a presumption to support the halfway of the roster unneurotic for the foreseeable future
