MVP runner-up could make wild NBA history with extension

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

This MVP runner-up could be first in NBA history to make $80M in a season

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 5/23/24

NBA player salaries have skyrocketed in recent years, but you wouldn’t believe just how high they will get in the future.

The All-NBA teams for the 2023-2024 season were released on Wednesday. Some players are set to benefit financially from the honor in a big way.

ESPN NBA front office expert Bobby Marks noted that Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who made the All-NBA team in 2023 and 2024, is eligible to sign a supermax extension. The extension would pay Gilgeous-Alexander $294 million over four years. The wildest aspect of the contract is that Gilgeous-Alexander would earn $81.4 million in 2030-2031, which would make him the first ever NBA player to earn $80 million in a season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now eligible to sign a super max extension in the 2025 offseason.

He would be the first player to earn $80M+ in one season. pic.twitter.com/E5yHzGse3b

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) May 22, 2024

Gilgeous-Alexander would be eligible to sign his extension next year. The terms of the extension would call for him to earn 35% of the projected salary cap from 2027-31.

Gilgeous-Alexander is already signed through 2026-27 thanks to the rookie max contract extension he signed in 2021. He is set to earn nearly $115 million over the next three seasons.

The 25-year-old guard finished second in NBA MVP voting this season, a year after finishing fifth. He led his Oklahoma City Thunder to the top seed in the West this season.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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