Jalen Williams, Thunder agree to rookie max extension

Oklahoma City Thunder All-NBA star and champion Jalen Williams has agreed to a five-year maximum rookie contract extension that could reach $287 million, agents Bill Duffy and Justin Haynes of WME Basketball told ESPN on Thursday.

After becoming the second-youngest team in NBA history to win a title, the Thunder now have long-term commitments from their big three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26), Williams (24) and Chet Holmgren (23) to play together and compete for championships through the rest of the decade.

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Gilgeous-Alexander officially signed a four-year, $285 million supermax Tuesday, and Holmgren reached a five-year, $250 million max Wednesday — with the three new extensions totaling up to $822 million.

Williams suffered a complete tear of the scapholunate ligament in his right wrist April 9 and played through the injury after missing two weeks in March due to a strain in the wrist. Williams detailed on YouTube his experience playing the rest of the season with the serious injury to his wrist, which was heavily taped. He received treatment such as pain-killing and anti-inflammatory injections.

He underwent surgery to repair the wrist after the Thunder’s Finals victory.

Williams, the Thunder’s No. 12 overall pick in the 2022 draft, earned All-NBA and All-Defensive Team honors after a stellar third season in Oklahoma City. He had a career year, averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists on 48.4% shooting from the field.

At 6-foot-6, Williams is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, using his more than 7-foot wingspan to attack passing lanes, deter drives and protect the rim. He led the NBA in points per direct isolation allowed among players to defend at least 125 isolations, per GeniusIQ.

Williams came up huge in big moments in OKC’s run to the city’s first NBA title, highlighted by a 40-point performance in a pivotal Game 5 of the Finals. He was the third-youngest player to score that many points in a Finals game in the past 50 years (1980 Magic Johnson and 2021 Russell Westbrook). Overall, Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander combined for 1,180 points in the playoffs, the fourth most by a duo in a single postseason in NBA history.

In the Finals, Williams increased his scoring total in each of the first five games, going from 17 to 19 to 26 to 27 to 40 points, becoming the first player to increase his scoring output in each of his first five career Finals games all time when recording at least 15 points in each game

Williams was one of four players with 1,400 points and 100 steals last season, along with Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and James Harden.

The Thunder will enter their third season of title contention in 2025-26 while being under the luxury tax, a byproduct of having a unique roster built around three young stars and key rotation finds on long deals to provide depth.

In 2026-27, the Thunder project to have a payroll of $246 million, which will take them over the first and second apron, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. However, unlike recent high-spending teams, Oklahoma City has the flexibility with $77 million in non-guaranteed contracts. Oklahoma City has dozens of draft picks and has structured their contracts in future years to put them in a position to keep the core of the roster together for the foreseeable future