Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander signs richest annual in NBA history
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had quite the 2025. He won his first MVP, his first scoring title, his first title and just signed the richest contract ever.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can do no wrong. Just days after celebrating the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first title since the franchise moved from Seattle, the Thunder have rewarded him by making him the highest paid player in the history of the league.
The richest contract in NBA history
The Thunder and SGA agreed on a four-year, $285 million contract extension on Tuesday afternoon, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The contract will extend through the 2030-31 season and will make him the highest paid player annually in the history of the league.
BREAKING: NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has agreed to a four-year, $285 million super maximum contract extension with the championship Oklahoma City Thunder through 2030-31, sources tell ESPN. This is now the richest annual salary for a player in league history. pic.twitter.com/eptbVjUo6j
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2025
Not only did SGA lead the Thunder to their first title since moving to OKC, he also won MVP of the regular season, won the scoring title and won Finals MVP. He averaged 32.7 ppg in the regular season, and then carried that into the playoffs where he averaged 30.3 ppg.
The Thunder brought SGA into town after his rookie season with the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a deal that sent Paul George to LA in exchange for the future MVP of the league and a handful of first round picks in the future. One of those picks turned out to be Jalen Williams who was SGA’s right hand man this season and throughout the playoffs.
A dynasty in the making?
The Thunder won the title, but now it’s time to look towards the future. Keeping a contending team together in the NBA has become increasingly difficult over the last decade. We haven’t had a repeat champion since 2018 when the Golden State Warriors won back-to-back titles. The first step towards securing their squad for the years to come was signing their MVP to a long term deal.
The @okcthunder are the 2nd youngest team in the shot clock era to win an NBA Championship, only behind Bill Walton and the 1976-77 Trail Blazers! 👏 pic.twitter.com/NpB7DG3OKh
— NBA (@NBA) June 24, 2025
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OKC have a young group of players that made up the second youngest roster to win an NBA title ever. They will have a chance to be together for a long time, but when contracts start to run out things can get tricky for the front office.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti will worry about that when the time comes, but for now he’s an NBA champion, the 2025 Executive of the Year and he just locked down the MVP in OKC for an additional four years.
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