Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is signing a five-year max extension with Thunder

Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder have agreed to a five-year, $172 million maximum rookie contract extension, agent Thaddeus Foucher informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).

The deal will kick in at the start of the 2022-23 season, when Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to earn $29.75 million, based on the new $119 million salary-cap projection for the 2022-23 season, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (Twitter link). Per Marks’s projections, SGA will net $39.27 million during the final year of the deal, in 2026-27.

The 6-6 combo guard was selected with No. 11 pick in the 2018 draft out of Kentucky and enjoyed an All-Rookie Second Team-caliber debut NBA season with the Clippers. He was the key element in a pick-heavy trade that sent All-Star forward Paul George to Los Angeles and has since proved his mettle with Oklahoma City.

Gilgeous-Alexander missed most of the 2020-21 season’s second half with a plantar fasciitis injury. When he was healthy, he produced at a high level. The 23-year-old averaged 23.7 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 4.7 RPG in 35 games last season. He posted a solid slash line of .508/.418/.808.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.