Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander expected to agree on 5-year extension

There were rumblings that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have been available leading up to the NBA Draft.

It seemed like many teams were looking to gauge the value that the Detroit Pistons had on the No. 1 overall pick which everyone knew would’ve eventually turned into Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham.

No trade ever happened nor did one seem even close. With that in mind, it’s sounding like the Thunder aren’t wanting to take any chances with the future of their star guard and may potentially lock him up for the foreseeable future this offseason.

Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer noted in a recent report on different player's free agency expectations that Gilgeous-Alexander is “expected” to agree to a five-year extension this offseason.

“Oklahoma City and Gilgeous-Alexander are expected to come to terms on a lucrative five-year, maximum-contract extension before the start of next season,” Fischer wrote.

In an NBA in which teams oftentimes have bad contracts stuck to their roster, making SGA the highest-paid Thunder player would be a home run for both sides. For the Thunder, they should be wanting their guard to stay with the franchise long term.

While we haven’t seen if he’s capable of leading a playoff-contending team as the Thunder were really led by Chris Paul when they made it in the bubble, SGA has drastically improved each of his three seasons in the NBA.

The 6-foot-6 Gilgeous-Alexander went from 10.8 to 19 to 23.7 points per game throughout his first three seasons. His assists also his career-high at 5.9 per game. His three-point shooting has almost doubled each season as well.

At just 23, committing to a player like SGA long-term should only bode well for the Thunder as, if he could stay healthy for the entirety of the season, they could start to consistently make the playoffs.

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