‘BIG BUSINESS’ 🗣️ Chet Holmgren signs 5-yr/$239M rookie MAX extension with OKC per Shams | NBA Today

‘BIG BUSINESS’ 🗣️ Chet Holmgren signs 5-yr/$239M rookie MAX extension with OKC per Shams | NBA Today

The big man, Chad Homegrren, got paid this morning. Homegrren agreed to a fully guaranteed rookie max extension worth a projected $239 million, which could be worth as much as a quarter of a billion. Oh my goodness. This deal does not include a player option, by the way. And that’s after SGA already signed his four-year Supermax deal worth a projected $285 million. The MVP’s contract, which starts in two years, is worth over 71 million a season. The largest average annual value in NBA history. The Thunder have now committed a projected 524 million in extensions to keep SGA and chat in OKC through the 3031 season. Next on their agenda could be an extension for Jaylen Williams, who like Homegrren is rookie extension eligible this summer. Now welcoming in the man who broke the news this morning, our guy Sham Shirania. Check out the full rookie Max Extension. How did this deal come about, Shams? George, when you win a championship, the second youngest team ever to do so. Big business awaits. And they got Shay Gills Alexander done on that fouryear $285 million super max last week. And then it was about Chad Homegrren and Jaylen Williams aka JDub. And today was chat day and getting him done was the priority. Oklahoma City officials and Homegr’s agent Bill Duffy at WME, they met over the last week or so, ironed out this 5-year full max extension that reaches almost $250 million this morning. It is fully guaranteed. And this is for a player that has dealt with some serious injury issues in his three seasons. But listen, last year he was the anchor of what was a historic defense. He had the best plus minus of any player in the NBA playoffs. He had the most blocks ever in a game seven of the NBA finals. So up to $250 million. Fort Homegrren, he was on an all-star trajectory last year before his hip injury that sidelined him for three months. So he’s committed. Shay Gills Alexander’s committed. Jaylen Williams next up at some point here. But Chad Homegrren like Shay Gills Alexander last week they had the the the very important attribute of commitment to this Thunder organization moving forward. All right. You kind of alluded to it there with Jaylen Williams, but what else does OKC potentially now have to look forward to in regards to the foreseeable future about locking up this roster or making roster moves. George, I’m told now the Thunder are going to fully focus on finishing up Jaylen Williams, their allNBA star guard forward. fully focused on finishing up his extension. There is momentum in those conversations with the Thunder between both sides. There’s been positive talks and both sides are aligned on where those negotiations are going. But big picture, the Thunder will be entering the 202526 season as a non-luxury tax team for the third straight season. It’s very unique in today’s NBA to be competing for a championship year in and year out. But it goes to the fact that they have this young core that is just now entering this max extension era for them. They have a bunch of role players locked up on long-term deals. But again, bigger picture starting that 2026 27 season. This is a team that’s projected to begin entering the first and second apron. Shams, thank you so much. You’re the man, brother. Appreciate you. All right, so there was Shams. Now Chennet, we know there have been seven different champions in the last seven seasons, but when you look at this Thunder team, okay, are they more equipped than any other team to be a potential dynasty? Right now, they’re sitting pretty, I’ll tell you that. And I just was listening to Shams and I started writing some things down. I was like, two of their contracts worth half a billion. Is that correct? Half a billion. Sam Prey obviously maneuvering this. They’re still under the luxury tax and their big three 27 years or younger, a number of them all NBA. Yep. This is wild level of finesse in the NBA. And you know, if there’s one team that is positioned for destined or destined for greatness, it is this squad. But the there’s one big caveat, okay? It’s the fact that when you grow over the next few years as these guys continue to be dominant, it’s going to be that much harder, especially when those the those numbers hit the books to retain the supporting cast, right? The Carusos, the Hartinstein, you know, the Dorts. That to me is the question mark. But they do have 51 picks to be able to buffer the young roster around them. But I think they’re hedging on that core, that big three core, which by the way, if you’re thinking about it, I was in love with the James Harden, the Russell Westbrook, the Kevin Durant, but this right here, they won a championship. Not saying that they’re better than those future Hall of Famers, but their team is basically has a runway where they’ve bought in already to the identity, the system. They have so many boxes checked that it’s like, okay, if any team can do it and go back to back, maybe it’s them. But they’re set up for sustainable success and they’re set up in a way where as Chana mentioned like they I think they won because of their cast, because of the supporting cast, because of their depth. They just outlasted everybody. They had the most talent and they outlasted everyone. And I think as we go forward, okay, Heartside might become a luxury. Well, guess what? You have Jaylen Williams behind him, and then you have Sorber, who you just drafted, and then you have Brandon Carlson who just did Kase Wallace is right there already getting big, right? I mean, they they just have the second wave right behind that first wave. And it’s and as you mentioned, Shay’s Sha’s extension doesn’t kick in for two more years, right? So, he’s still on the deal that he was on before. These extensions don’t kick in for a little while. And they have a couple years to play with with those with those secondary players before they have to make those tougher decisions. And by the way, can we shout out Jaylen Williams a little bit here? The man was dealing with a wrist injury since March. He missed two weeks in March after an injury, then reagravated it in April and played through the entire playoffs. He just talked about this recently, playing through that wrist injury. I was in those huddles. He was getting work on that wrist the entire conference finals. I remember watching him. We saw him. There was one game where he hit a couple shots. It was against Denver and he starts blowing on his hand and that wrist, the wrist that’s always taped. And we asked him about it postgame and he’s trying not to say anything, right? He’s trying not to acknowledge any level of pain or whatever it is. He goes, “Oh, I I didn’t even know the C I mean, the camera was literally captured him doing it.” And he goes, “I I don’t even know what you’re talking about. That guy was cool as a pillow.” And you know what’s crazy to me? The only player that had high levels of consistency through all rounds was Shay. Now you’re going to get that in the future with JDub and Chat only improving. To me, it’s wild. Even though the West is still stacked, future is bright for sure there. No doubt about And finally, reports out of Denver that three-time MVP Nicola Joic will not seek a contract extension this summer, delaying talks until next year. Jookic has three years left on his current deal, including a player option for 2728. Om Young Massuk reported on this story yesterday and joins us now here. So, Omie, walk us through this contract scenario with Jokic and should Denver fans have any cause for concern here? Yeah, and talking to people around the league, uh, and including people from the Nuggets, there’s zero concern about this being something like Nicole Joic left the door open for other teams. Um, this was expected because next year he could sign for a fourth year up to maybe as much as 80 close to $80 million more. Now, if you’re a team like the Clippers who have cleared cap space uh to maintain flexibility, you will have this hope perhaps that maybe look something unforeseen could happen. Maybe Nicole Joic won’t be happy with how things uh end up in Denver. But I look, we look at the moves they’ve done in the last few months. They changed coaches uh from Michael Malone to Adelman. Adelman gave Jokic more of a voice in those huddles. You saw him being active there. They changed GMs. They went and swapped Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson. They went and got Tim Hardaway Jr. They brought back Bruce Brown, a guy they loved in the locker room, helped them win the title. All of these moves and uh Valenunis, who they still is trending in the right direction. They believe, you know, they’re holding him to play next season to be his backup. These are all moves they’re doing to make Joic happy and by all indications, the Denver Nuggets are not concerned about this at all that they expected him to wait until next summer. All right, so Joic could be a free agent as early as 2027. And Ramona mentioned the Clippers, but there are a number of teams that are trying to look at space for 2027. How do you see this kind of all shaking out with some of these teams? I mean, I I see the Clippers and they’ve got spot for two max players in a couple of years. The Lakers are hoarding caps. Like in this era, we all just got done covering free agency and free agency is mostly done by the time we get to July 1st because you can negotiate with your own player if they haven’t signed an extension yet or if they you can you the day after the finals end, right? And I I don’t know what they’re holding this cap space for. Like I I like the idea if this was 2015. I like the idea of even 16 even 16 that you that cap space could actually lead to landing another. You know what it is, Ramona? I talked to someone today who said it’s no it’s no longer about free agency anymore and waiting for a free agent to become available and you keep that cast space. Players sign the extensions, get paid, get their money, and then if they want to move, they force a trade. And I think that’s where having the space to absorb the contract but also having manageable contracts that you can trade several role players that might be attractive on decent and then you add in the picks and if you don’t have the assets and picks you find five teams to come in the field to work record 17 right cuz here’s the thing like you know I know a lot of people certainly were stunned by the way the Donic trade went down because of the lack of assets that traded traded from a draft capital perspective but the Mavs still got Anthony Davis, like you still need one of those kinds of guys, an all-star caliber player to fetch yourself potentially a Jokic or whoever could be available, another star player. I suppose you can use your cap space to acquire those type of assets that you would use in a trade like that. But I but you see that list and we all go, “Oh, wow. They could all be free.” They’re not really going to get to free agents. No, they’re probably going to do extensions. And that’s one of the things in this new CBA and this we saw this last year with the Fox where we kind of expected him to sign that when he didn’t do it. It left the Kings in a position where you got their you got your answer a little too early. Like maybe you don’t want to know if he’s gonna if he’s going to extend with you early because then you have to trade him if he’s not going to extend with you. And we’re going to see that in a couple weeks when Luca Don has this question for the Lakers in the start of August. He can do that extension. If he doesn’t do that, now you have your answer, right? All bets are off. All bets are off. Yeah. And by the way, Giannis could also be a free agent in 2027 as well. Oh yes. You know what? When I think about Nicola Yokic and the Denver Nuggets, I like the moves they made. I do think that the same way that we talked about the Lakers running into the Nuggets. Nuggets ran into the best defense in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and that changed the outlook of how successful their season was. So now, if they’re able to avoid a team like that, a buzzsaw, then maybe you’ll look and see like, okay, we are still championship caliber and competitive because right now that man is the toughest guard in basketball, positionless, you know, when you think about it. So that’s where I’m at. like he as long as he’s happy the pieces are around for them to get better and to compete and as long as you avoid maybe some of the stiffest competition in the west then then they’re in a pretty good position. Well, and he’s become more vocal in the huddles we’ve all seen maybe I don’t know this is reckless speculation maybe he’s become more vocal behind the scenes too. Yeah. Well, and look and to Ramona’s point if you are a conspiracy theorist or somebody who is has wishful thinking if Luca Don does not sign an extension who is Luca Don very close to Oh yeah. Oh, I love it. Reckless speculation. That’s what we do here in the summer. Bobby, thank you for joining us, man. First off, congrats on the new deal. You just resigned with the Bucks this off season on a three-year deal. What made you want to continue your journey in Milwaukee? Man, first off, man, appreciate y’all having me on the show, man. Y’all haven’t invited me in so long, man. I think y’all like me. I ain’t think y’all like me no more. I can’t show you guys for a few for a few minutes, man. No, no, I’m just playing, man. But man, just just the atmosphere, man. Just the culture, man. Just being in Milwaukee kind of um helped shape and make my career, man. You know, starting off my career kind of rocky. Um going to three stops. Played with the Bulls for four years. Played with um you know, it’s the Wizards for like two months. Nobody really talks about that st. Played with the played with the Knicks um for half a season and then finally finding a home in Milwaukee where it’s comfortable playing basketball. Um, obviously it’s a winning culture, winning team. We’re always in the playoffs, always have a chance to win a championship, playing with great players, have a chance to, you know, build a legacy there. All those things kind of just hit home for me, man. And, um, not wanting to move all my things as well, man. Got to think about all the places I go, do I do I really want to be 30 years old moving all my stuff across the country? Nah, probably not, man. So, I kind of just stay put where I’m at, man. I love it for sure. I get it. No doubt. Moving stinks, I’ll tell you that. All right. Listen, your Bucks went undefeated in cup play last year. You heard us do the reveal a moment ago. Let’s take a look at the East Group C where you guys will be. All right, so it’s you guys, the Knicks, the Bulls, the Heat, and the Hornets. What are your initial thoughts? I like it, man. Um I love the the whole NBA Cup thing only because man, you know, the it’s the it’s the um you know, when guys score at the end of the game, guys get mad. Remember that little thing? They had a thing. Now it’s about point spread. It’s like I played in USA ball in 20 in 2023 and coach K was just talking about winning by as many points. Don’t get don’t get comfortable winning by as many points takes you to like a European type style, right? Winning by um you know it’s a total amount of points matter um and all those things. So um it keeps you locked in. It keeps you gives you a early incentive throughout the season. Um so I love it. Um I love our group. Um, it’s going to be tough obviously in these type of settings. You know, any team can make it. So, every team feel like they have a chance to win. So, um, that what makes the cup so good and it’s fun to play in, man. And it’s fun winning 500K. I can’t see her act like that. It’s not fun just just seeing 500k just show up, too. So, I got to I got to I got to throw that out there. Yeah, no doubt. That bag is It matters. There’s no doubt. Especially for those young guys who don’t make a lot of money, for sure. So, all right. Well, listen. You guys made a big splash, speaking of money, in free agency signing uh longtime Indiana Pacers big man Miles Turner. Look, there was a little bit of a rivalry brewing between the Bucks and Pacers these past. It’s still a rivalry, man. It’s still a rivalry. It’s not going nowhere. No, it’s not going nowhere. That’s part of the reason why I want to play with the Bucks still, man. I want to still play against those guys, man. I like playing against the Pacers, man. That’s not no That’s not no secret, man. We like We don’t like them, they don’t like us. Ain’t no secret. Okay. I love it. I love that he’s still a rival. But how does Miles fit in now considering now he switched sides? I mean, shoot. I talked to him the other day, man, on the phone. I I finally broke down and called him. I called him twice and he ain’t pick up. He ain’t pick up, right? So, I text him. I sent him a little text message. I’m like, “Hey, man. Just BP, man. Just checking in, seeing how everything is going.” Called me. You know what I’m saying? He called me and I’m like, “Hey, bro.” Like, like NBA is kind of crazy how this whole thing kind of shapes and, you know, turns around. Me and Miles are actually in the same draft, too. 2015. So, shout out to my 2015 class, too. Got to give us some love, man. We still got about 15, 16 guys bumping in the league, man. All right. No doubt about that. Shout out to the class of 2015. You also played with Dame Lillard the past two seasons, who was recently bought out, obviously dealing with a a tough injury. What did he bring to the Bucks in your time there? And and how do you guys look to try to replace him in any way you can, man? Damen Lillard, man, I can’t say, you know, you know what I’m saying, too much about him, man. He’s just, you know, just the one of the realest teammates I ever had. Just being around him, um, just made me better. Um, you know, he’s a, you know, selfless guy. Gives himself up for the betterment of the team leader. Um, you know, just to play play through all the things he played through this year, you know, the calf injury, had blood clots, come back and play, even sent us a text message, um, you know, before the playoffs, uh, you know, while the playoffs were starting. and we had lost the first two games and then after the third game he said he going to give it a go. He going to just telling us first first and foremost in day he going to put his body on the line for us out there. So um you know I can’t say too much about him man. That’s one of my favorite teammates I ever had. My two favorite point guards in the league I ever had was Ray John Rondo and and now Damen Little. So those he definitely my guy man. I always try to get cool with my point guards. I like the ball too. So he know that. He know that. You know how to do it. You know how it works. All right. Now, let me ask let me ask you about you and Giannis. Uh the last two players left from that 21 title team. Giannis has said he wants to win another championship in Milwaukee. Why is that partnership with you and Giannis worked so well? Man, um I just think it’s just around around 34, man, you got to have, you know, spacers, right? You got to have guys that can space the floor. Um you got to have guys that open up driving lanes for him when you play with him, man. like, you know, you might watch on TV, just watch the things that he does, but we kind of give ourselves up to let him be, you know, who he is, man. Sprint to the corner, getting deep corner, let him get his drives and things, whatever it is. But, um, it’s fun playing with him. And then, man, just just his selflessness that he does, man. Giving himself up for the team, putting his body online each and every day. Um, you know, you got to have bigs that can space the floor that that can, you know, knock down the wall, knock down a Yiannis wall. It’s it’s a real thing. So, um, it’s been fun playing with him over the five over these past five seasons. Can’t believe, you know, it’s been five years already. Tom really flies, man. But it’s been fun, man. Hope we can keep it going, man. Hopefully get back to the top. All right, real quick before we go. We only have a couple seconds here. I know you love Hubie Brown, our recently retired colleague. 91 years young. I know you always shout him out when you’re miked up. Give him one more shout out here. What’s up, Huie? How you doing, man? That’s for you, Huie. Hey, my first three I hit this year, man. I’m going to give you a mean shout out. Hopefully y’all got me miked up for that one too so y’all can catch it. All right, sounds good. Bobby, thank you so much. Congrats again on the contract and we’ll talk to you during the season. Appreciate [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On NBA Today, Shams Charania, Chiney Ogwumike and Ramona Shelburne join Jorge Sedano to discuss Chet Holmgren signing a 5-yr/$239M rookie max extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then, Ohm Youngmisuk joins to react to Nikola Jokic delaying his contract extension talks. Finally, Bobby Portis joins the show to talk Damian Lillard getting waived, the Bucks and more.

0:00 Chet Holmgren’s extension
6:37 Nikola Jokic delays extension talks
11:38 Bobby Portis interview

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