Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to a five-year contract extension worth up to $287 million with 24-year-old All-Star forward Jalen Williams, ESPN reported Thursday. ESPN cited Williams’s agents in reporting the extension of Williams’s rookie contract, which makes the 24-year-old the latest key piece of Oklahoma City’s title run to commit to the Thunder long-term.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the regular-season and NBA Finals MVP, signed a four-year, $285 million extension on Tuesday, and big man Chet Holmgren reached a $250 million five-year extension on his rookie contract on Wednesday. With the deals done, the 20-something trio look set to compete for titles for the foreseeable future.
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The Thunder became the second-youngest team in history to claim the NBA title when they beat the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the NBA Finals last month. The Thunder crowned a dazzling 68-win regular season with their first championship since the club relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008; the franchise had won the title as the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979.
Williams, whose extension will keep him in Oklahoma City through the 2030-31 campaign, averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in the regular season and 21.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in the playoffs. He revealed in a YouTube video this week that he received “28 or 29” painkilling injections as he played through a torn ligament in his right wrist. He said he suffered the injury in April, when he was already playing through a sprain in the same wrist.
Williams, taken 12th overall by the Thunder in the 2022 NBA draft, was impressive in the Finals, increasing his scoring total in each of the first five games as he went from 17 points in game one to 19 in game two, 26 in game three, 27 in game four, and a dazzling 40 in game five. Williams had surgery on his injured wrist on July 1 and was scheduled to be reevaluated in 12 weeks, the team said.
“He powered through,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. “He showed incredible mental endurance and security in himself. I thought it was pretty impressive that he just kept moving along with no excuses and obviously played his best basketball down the stretch of the season.”
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