OKC Thunder: Grading Jalen Williams Contract Extension

It was a banner year for the Thunder, literally. Already sitting in the rafters is Oklahoma City's second Western Conference Championship banner, soon to be joined by the team's first NBA Finals cloth after beating the Indiana Pacers in seven games of the 2025 NBA Finals.

It was a season to remember, breaking the franchise record for wins (68), owning the best record against the opposite conference in league history, the best point differential in NBA history and home court advantage throughout the team's Final run.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have inked its star trio to max contract extensions, including Jalen Williams, who finished as a third-team All-NBA member a year ago, made the All-Defensive team and was placed on his first All-Star team en route to a title.

Grading Jalen Williams Contract extension

The Oklahoma City Thunder have inked Williams to a five-year pact worth up to $287 million deal that reaches 30% of the cap with escalators in his deal.

This season was a breakout campaign for Williams who still has room to grow. Despite battling a torn ligament in his wrist, the Santa Clara product dropped 40 points in an NBA Finals win against the Pacers while throughout the playoffs reaching new heights of aggression and force as a scorer that unlocked a championship level for the Bricktown ballers.

His regular season was good enough to average 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.3 stocks (steals plus blocks) with shooting splits of 48/36/79. If you take Williams' postseason averages after Game 6 of the Thunder's second-round series against the Denver Nuggets, he turned in 23 points, five rebounds, assists, 1.4 stocks per game while shooting 46% from the floor, 36% from the 3-point line and 81% at the charity stripe.

These are impressive numbers at face value made even more so when you factor in the need to change his jump shot on the fly due to the wrist injury that eventually needed offseason surgery.

The next step for Williams is to get closer to his Sophomore season from beyond the arc where the swingman posted 42% from beyond the arc. A true three-level scorer that throughout the playoffs learned how to draw fouls to unlock a new gear for himself.

Despite many questioning if he could reach the heights of a No. 2 scoring option as a 24-year-old third year player, he did just that while battling injury. A clear indicator that Williams is worth the max.

There is no way to slice this deal other than an A+. Even if the Oklahoma City Thunder have to shell out top dollar to Williams due to him hitting lofty incentives, you do it ten times over. Reaching the heights of an MVP player means that Oklahoma City's dynastic dreams have become a reality.

Grade: A+