By Joe Vardon, Jenna West and John Hollinger
The Oklahoma City Thunder and center Chet Holmgren agreed to a fully guaranteed five-year maximum rookie contract extension worth up to $250 million, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball told The Athletic, as the Thunder continue to lock in their young NBA championship roster for the foreseeable future.
Holmgren’s extension, which includes no player or team option, comes eight days after the franchise agreed to a four-year supermax extension for an estimated $285 million with star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Now, Oklahoma City is expected to lock down the third member of its star trio, Jalen Williams, with a long-term deal this summer that will push the Thunder’s payroll past the “first apron” of the NBA’s salary rules starting next summer, which carries a tax penalty and some restrictions on roster building.
OKC isn’t hamstrung when it comes to shaping its present or future. Not only did the Thunder win the NBA Finals last month through a Game 7 triumph over the Indiana Pacers and follow it with these expected contract extensions for their top players, but they still have double-digit first-round draft picks for the next five years.
Holmgren, 23, will make $13.7 million this season before his extension kicks in next summer. Then he will earn a projected $41.3 million — or 25 percent of the expected salary cap, with increasing salary in each of the following four seasons that could grow larger (to a value equal to 35 percent of the salary cap) if he is voted MVP, defensive player of the year or makes an All-NBA team.
Holmgren averaged 15 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in the 2024-25 regular season with the Thunder, but he missed 50 games mainly due to a hip injury. During the playoffs, he averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks in 23 games, anchoring the team’s defense.
The Thunder drafted the Gonzaga star with the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. However, he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot during a pro-am game that summer, had surgery and missed his entire rookie season.
In his debut season in 2023-24, he averaged 16.2 points in 82 regular-season games and finished second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting behind San Antonio Spurs sensation Victor Wembanyama. Holmgren and the Thunder reached the playoffs, where the Dallas Mavericks eliminated them in the Western Conference semifinals in six games.
This offseason, Holmgren was eligible for an extension after his third NBA season. His extension set the floor for Williams’ next deal. A full max extension for the Thunder center, albeit one with no “Rose Rule” language that would get him more than 25 percent of the cap, means that Williams’ next contract will be for nothing less than the same, and possibly more if he makes another All-NBA team.
Oklahoma City has one more year before its roster becomes incredibly expensive and forces tough decisions, but the rest of its cap sheet is clean enough to handle the scourge of tax aprons from 2026 to 2029. It has a treasure trove of draft assets to build for the future while keeping Gilgeous-Alexander and perhaps both of its other max players.
(Photo: Alonzo Adams / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
