The defending champion Thunder and All-Star forward Jalen Williams have agreed to a maximum-salary rookie scale extension that covers five years, agents Bill Duffy and Justin Haynes tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Jordan Richard of Swish Cultures was first to report the news (via Twitter).
Williams’ new five-year extension is fully guaranteed and does not feature a player or team option, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Williams’ extension will kick in during the 2026/27 campaign and he will earn at least 25% of that season’s salary cap. Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection, that would work out to a five-year, $240MM deal.
I used the term “at least” because all three reports state that Williams could earn more than that, which implies his new deal has Rose Rule language that would make him eligible for a starting salary worth up to 30% of next season’s cap if he meets certain performance criteria, such as making an All-NBA team.
The 24-year-old wing is coming off a career-best season in which he averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals in 32.4 minutes per game across 69 outings, with a .484/.365/.789 shooting line. He earned a spot on the All-Defensive second team, as well as the All-NBA third team.
More to come…