The SHOCKING Truth behind OKC’s signings

The SHOCKING Truth behind OKC’s signings

there’s a shocking truth behind OKC’s pair of signings today as the deals reached with Jaylen Williams and AJ Mitchell are much deeper than they seem today we’re going to go over how these aren’t just great deals at face value for the Thunder but Sam Prey currently making moves in a chess match for 3 years down the line aimed directly at keeping this championship court intact in the heart of Oklahoma City before we get into these two deals for these two guys today but mainly how this sets the table for the big dogs to eat in OKC for years to come wanted to say real quick Gabriel Eversell with Thunder Digest well we just hit our goal of 5,000 subscribers last night and we’re trying to hit 6K as fast as possible if you’re already subbed up to us thank you so much for rocking with us and if not what are you even doing we’re trying to bring you guys trades signings free agency hopefully not injuries this offseason but anything OKC basketball we have got you covered the Thunder just came off a 68 win season in a championship yet 68% of you guys are not subscribed to the channel they’re trying to go back to back next year but in the meantime we have got you covered with everything all in one spot so make sure you hit that bell and without any further ado let’s take a look at how Sam Prey is keeping this core tied setting the foundation for keeping Oklahoma City basketball real close and tight to home because we saw two deals reached today that tied directly into keeping this Thunder big three right where they belong man right at home in the Paycom center and playing basketball for us this is going to be a great video so make sure you sit down and lock in because we’re going to get started by talking about this extension and this was reached this morning right sean’s tweets out Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylen Williams is signing a new three-year $24 million contract extension with the franchise sources tell ESPN thunder declined Williams’ 2.1 million team option and negotiated the new raise with his agents Marcus Monk and Shawn Kennedy of XL Sports he later on goes to note that the third season will be a team option for Jaylen Williams per sources so we’re going to start off by talking at face value this is a fantastic deal right i can point to three reasons why this was a guy who we threw a body at Joic in a series that went the distance and he played a big difference in tiring him down this is a guy who shoots the ball extremely well from the outside that’s his calling card on offense and we were a team that struggled to hit from deep in the playoffs he can fill a hole that we need to fill for years to come now now for years to come with this extension and then on top of that this guy is a chemistry he’s just a great chemistry piece for our team the light of the locker room always smiling i know you guys see it and this just made me give a Jaylen Williams smile when I saw this tweeted out this morning taking a look at this dude’s impact six points a game five and a half rebounds two and a half assists per game a stock and an efficient score when you consider that 70% of his shots are threes and he shoots 40% from the three-point line an astounding 64% on corner threes and if you see right above that this guy turned 23 today everyone drop a happy birthday Jay Will in the comments because this guy has got himself a great gift and he is locked up for the next three years with this team we take a look at uh another part of Sean’s tweet though you guys saw that they declined the 2.1 million player option i mean team option excuse me for this coming season right this taking a look at this he’s on the bottom of this uh screen if you guys want to get your eyes right there he had this last year on his contract and they declined it in favor of keeping him locked up for the long term we see him locked up through the 2728 season that is going to be a very significant number ladies and gentlemen when we take a look at the top of this list at Sheay Gilgis Alexander a guy who his extension is going to hit that exact same year and that is whenever the bill is going to be coming for this feast that we are having right now he is going to hit hard and heavy on this extension and how do we know this because we saw earlier this year that Sha Gildas Alexander is eligible for a 5-year $380 million contract extension in the year of 2026 now he is eligible to sign a 4-year uh 296 million I believe it right now uh since he won the MVP last year uh he hit that threshold was all NBA the last three years uh this guy is worth every cent of this contract and he already delivers the championship you can’t even argue that first ever in franchise history at that uh but we are going to give him this contract whenever it’s time it’s undisputable and deservedly so right this is the leader of our team the MVP of the league we need to keep him locked up long term but we are setting the foundation right now with this deal with Jaylen Williams to keep that low payroll up through then and for the first year of that contract while we find and scrouch for new pieces buys us time to continue the roster and build it and right now we just locked up a very solid player on the very low up until then and then for the first year of that at that we put a team option on the back end of it master work by Sam Prey but he was not finished because that exact same day later on in the afternoon what does he have so again comes at us with a tweet saying the Oklahoma City Thunder intend to sign guard AJ Mitchell to a new three-year contract worth nearly $9 million after declining his 202526 team option sources tell ESPN OKC and Life Sports Agency CEO Todd Ramsar and agent Mike Simonetta negotiated the new deal for Mitchell now talking about a AJ Mitchell a guy who was once again a very solid piece for our team this year a guy who averaged six and a half points two rebounds two assists a game almost a stock and he was an efficient player at that shooting 50% from the field over 38% from the three-point line and wouldn’t you know it a young guy at that four years older than Jay Will happy belated birthday to AJ Mitchell this guy has room to improve and we just inked him up long term for three more years and right while he’ll be hitting his prime is whenever this deal is going to run out so we’ll have a much better picture of who he will be going forward whether he’s a part of this team longterm or not we now have time to figure out and we have time to figure it out on the chi right better yet even than that take a look at where he was before then third from the bottom to get you guys eyes in the right spot this guy was making $3 million already coming into this year and you saw it correctly three years 9 million so 3 million per year we go we we we decline a team option and sign him for the same amount for a longer period of time absolutely genius move by Sam Prey a selfless move by AJ Mitchell to stay with this team right here but nonetheless we have this guy on the low end for the same amount of money that we had him at and when you consider something else very very very important that we need to talk about it is even better because we’re talking about the salary cap in the NBA right it’s set to increase by 10% each year it’s already set in stone it’s going to increase by 10% next year taking a look last year at the cap of 140.5 million at 14 million you get 154 the year after that you’re taking that 15.4 uh million and you’re raising that up to 170 17 million off of that is the 10% for the next year’s increase of 187 million 18.7 million 10% increase up to 205 mil the year after that and finally you’re taking that 20 and a half million 10% of 205 and then you’re getting 226 by the year of 2930 moral of the story the prices in the NBA what you can spend goes up yearbyear and by inking the same player through the same value contract you’re actually gaining value just by it’s a less percent of the cap and this is even incredible considering OKC is not set to pay a luxury tax next year the team that just won a championship that had an allNBA player and the MVP on the same team and they’re paying Isaiah Hartenstein 28 million they are paying guys pretty well and but they have chat and double on the rookie deals and that is going to keep them under the luxury tax for this year phenomenal work by Sam Prey and he continues to do it today twice in one day at that this guy is working to make sure we are secured for the future now I just said something about Chet and Dub being on the cheat but guys I don’t want you to expect that for long because if you’re paying attention you know that Jay Jaylen Williams was drafted in the same draft class as two very significant players of our franchise i’m talking about the second and third options on the championship team who are both in line for $247 million rookie extensions over five years is what this will be max extensions they’re both eligible for 25% of the salary cap and they’re not none of them hit the rose rule that would give them 30% jdub was one allNBA selection short um nonetheless this team needs to lock these guys up going forward they already know that Sam Prey is way too smart to not know that number two and three on the championship team need paid that is why you’re seeing this AJ Mitchell deal that is why you’re seeing this Jay Will deal it is laying the groundwork to be able to pay the big dogs and pay this tab to keep them locked into OKC for years to come these are young guys who are going to get better and we need to keep them around we know we need to keep them around so we are laying the groundwork today and don’t be surprised if you see these rookie extensions that we’re just talking about right here signed within the week by these two guys sam Prey knows that the role is 25% of the cap he wants to get these deals done as early as possible to make sure we have the definitive direction moving forward for this team the plan is set he’s just got to put it in motion these deals will be signed very soon you heard it here first nonetheless we are signing these guys and then their extensions will hit obviously the year after that and then we saw already the big dog payment of Jay Gilis Alexander who will be making north of 70 million after that that is when the bill for this feast that this team is having right now will be due we’re not in luxury tax this year incredibly so incredible work by Sam Prey but we know it’s coming we know that this is coming and we’re laying the groundwork right here today to make sure we got the right guys in the right places long term for this team we just signed two key pieces of this team moving forward two three-year deals and that is just cannot have enough said about the work of Sam Prey today and how it plays into the long-term impact of this team i want you guys to wish Jay Will a happy birthday in the comments below i want you to congratulate Sam Prey for being the best GM to ever grace this earth and this been Gabriel Eversell with Thunder Digest i’ll catch you guys in the next one make sure you’re subscribed so you can help us hit 6K and we can keep you posted i’ll see you guys

Thunder Digest covers the latest reports, news and rumors regarding the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you want to stay updated with every trade, move and tidbit on players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Mark Daigneault and Sam Presti.