Oklahoma City Thunder Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jalen Williams, Thunder Have ‘Momentum’ Toward Extension

July 10th, 2025 at 8:27am CST by Luke Adams

After agreeing to extend Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren since the new league year began, the Thunder will now “fully focus” on getting a contract extension done with star wing Jalen Williams, ESPN’s Shams Charania said during a Wednesday appearance on NBA Today (YouTube link).

“There is momentum in those conversations with the Thunder between both sides,” Charania said. “There’s been positive talks, and both sides are aligned on where those negotiations are going.”

Like Holmgren, Williams is entering the final year of his rookie scale contract in 2025/26, making him eligible for a rookie scale extension. His standard maximum-salary extension would be worth 25% of the ’26/27 cap, but he and the Thunder could agree to Rose Rule language that would make him eligible for a starting salary worth up to 30% of next season’s cap if he meets certain performance criteria, such as making an All-NBA team.

Williams is coming off a career-best season in which he averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals in 32.4 minutes per game across 69 outings, with a .484/.365/.789 shooting line. He earned a spot on the All-Defensive second team, as well as the All-NBA third team.

Despite that All-NBA nod in 2025, Williams has not yet met the Rose Rule performance criteria — if he and Oklahoma City negotiate an extension that includes the possibility of his salary exceeding 25% of next season’s cap, he’d have to achieve the performance criteria again in 2026 to reach that figure.

Williams averaged 21.4 points per game for the Thunder during their postseason run to a championship despite dealing with a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, which he recently underwent surgery to address.

As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst relays, Williams said in a YouTube video this week that he was battling a right wrist sprain for much of the season and suffered the torn ligament during an April 9 game against Phoenix. Between that time and the Thunder’s Game 7 win over Indiana last month, the 24-year-old said he received constant lidocaine injections and cortisone shots to manage the pain.

“I got 28 or 29 shots in my hand throughout the playoffs,” Williams said. “And I was like, ‘That can’t be for nothing. We have to win.’ So, that was my mentality.”

Williams’ shooting percentages dipped to 44.9% from the field and 30.4% on three-pointers during the playoffs, which he said was a result of changing his motion due to the wrist injury.

“I didn’t want to tell the world that I was hurt, and so the world just ganged up on me about how I wasn’t ready for the moment. Which obviously is wrong now,” Williams said. “But that was the most annoying thing, because human nature is you want to just scream that you’re hurt. But I was able to lock in and not use that as an excuse.”

Groups Set For 2025 NBA Cup

July 9th, 2025 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced the six groups of five teams apiece for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup, also known as the in-season tournament (Twitter link).

In order to set the groups, the league splits the Western and Eastern Conferences into five three-team tiers based on last season’s regular season standings, with one club from each tier randomly drawn into each of the conference’s three groups.

For instance, the top three teams from the West will all be in separate groups, with each of those three groups also featuring one team in the 4-6 range, one in the 7-9 range, and so on.

Here are the groups for the 2025 NBA Cup:

West Group A: Oklahoma City Thunder (1), Minnesota Timberwolves (6), Sacramento Kings (9), Phoenix Suns (11), Utah Jazz (15)
West Group B: Los Angeles Lakers (3), Los Angeles Clippers (5), Memphis Grizzlies (8), Dallas Mavericks (10), New Orleans Pelicans (14)
West Group C: Houston Rockets (2), Denver Nuggets (4), Golden State Warriors (7), Portland Trail Blazers (12), San Antonio Spurs (13)
East Group A: Cleveland Cavaliers (1), Indiana Pacers (4), Atlanta Hawks (8), Toronto Raptors (11), Washington Wizards (15)
East Group B: Boston Celtics (2), Detroit Pistons (6), Orlando Magic (7), Brooklyn Nets (12), Philadelphia 76ers (13)
East Group C: New York Knicks (3), Milwaukee Bucks (5), Chicago Bulls (9), Miami Heat (10), Charlotte Hornets (14)

The round-robin group play games will be starting a little earlier than usual this season and will run from October 31 to November 28. Each team will face the other four clubs in its group once, with the winners of each group and one wild card team from each conference advancing to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout round.

The full schedule of group play games can be viewed right here.

The quarterfinals will be played on December 9-10, with the semifinals and final to follow on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, respectively, in Las Vegas. The knockout round games will all be aired by one of the NBA’s new broadcasting partners, Amazon Prime.

The Bucks won last season’s NBA Cup, with star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo earning MVP honors after leading Milwaukee to a victory over the Thunder in the championship game.

Alex Ducas To Sign With NBL’s Brisbane Bullets

July 8th, 2025 at 10:56pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Former two-way Thunder guard and NBA champion Alex Ducas is heading overseas at the conclusion of Summer League, as he’ll sign a one-year contract with the Brisbane Bullets of Australia’s National Basketball League, according to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc.

Ducas appeared in 21 games last season for the Thunder on a two-way contract, totaling 36 points in 125 minutes. Oklahoma City signed Ducas last offseason after he went undrafted following five seasons at Saint Mary’s, where he averaged 9.0 points per game and made 40.6% of his three-pointers over his collegiate career.

The 6’6″ guard is with the Thunder this month, but received a DNP in Tuesday’s final game of the Salt Lake City Summer League.

The Thunder have 2025 draftee and former Northwestern guard Brooks Barnhizer currently on a two-way deal and they reportedly agreed to one with Branden Carlson. That would leave Oklahoma City with one two-way contract to fill, although players can be swapped at any time.

The only remaining free agent from the Thunder’s championship-winning team is Adam Flagler, who spent last season on a two-way contract himself.

Contract Details: Turner, Robinson, Mitchell, NAW, Kyrie, Jones

July 8th, 2025 at 6:53am CST by Luke Adams

Myles Turner‘s new four-year contract with the Bucks came in a little higher than expected, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (via Twitter).

Using the cap room left over after waiving and Damian Lillard and buying out Vasilije Micic (via the stretch provision), Milwaukee was able to give Turner a starting salary of $25,318,251. With annual 5% raises, his deal is worth a total of approximately $108.87MM. As previously reported, the contract also includes a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.

Here are a few more details on contracts officially signed around the NBA in recent days:

Using Simone Fontecchio‘s outgoing salary ($8,307,692) and the expanded traded player exception ($8,527,000), the Pistons were able to take back a maximum of $16,834,692 in incoming salary. Not coincidentally, that’s exactly the starting salary that Duncan Robinson got on his new deal with Detroit via sign-and-trade (Twitter link via Gozlan). Robinson’s three-year deal has a declining structure and offers few guarantees after the first year — just $2MM of his $15.99MM salary in 2026/27 is guaranteed, and his entire $15.15MM salary for ’27/28 is non-guaranteed.
Ajay Mitchell‘s new three-year deal with the Thunder came in a little lower than expected, at $8.7MM, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. It includes a fully guaranteed $3MM salary for 2025/26, replacing the team option Oklahoma City turned down that was worth the same amount. His $2.85MM salary for ’26/27 is partially guaranteed for $1.5MM, while ’27/28 is a $2.85MM team option.
Reported to be worth $62MM over four years, Nickeil Alexander-Walker‘s new contract with the Hawks came in at $60,647,200, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. It includes a fourth-year player option and a 7.5% trade kicker. It also declines in year two (from $15,161,800 to $14,403,710) before ascending again in year three ($15,161,800) and four ($15,919,890).
The three-year deal between Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks is worth $118,473,846, with a third-year player option and a 15% trade kicker, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. It starts at $36,566,002, with annual 8% raises.
Tre Jones‘ three-year, $24MM contract with the Bulls has a flat structure, with annual cap hits of $8MM, and a third-year team option, Hoops Rumors has confirmed.

Community Shootaround: Early Offseason Winners, Losers

July 5th, 2025 at 10:23am CST by Rory Maher

We’re in a quiet transactional period as we wait for the July moratorium to lift tomorrow. There are still a handful of top restricted free agents who have yet to sign new contracts, but with a dearth of cap space around the league, the players don’t have a ton of negotiating leverage, so it could take a while for those situations to play out.

John Hollinger of The Athletic recently weighed in on some of the biggest winners and losers to this point in the offseason. The article is technically centered around free agency, but it takes all offseason moves into account.

Hollinger lauds the moves the Hawks have made, including trading for Kristaps Porzingis, landing what could be an extremely valuable 2026 first-round pick from the Pelicans (only this deal is official), acquiring Nickeil Alexander-Walker in a sign-and-trade, and signing sharpshooter Luke Kennard. Atlanta still has its bi-annual exception available, Hollinger notes, and is about $7.4MM below the luxury tax line.

While they’re facing a minor roster crunch, Hollinger also likes the Hornets‘ offseason thus far, saying they had a strong draft (Kon Knueppel, Liam McNeeley, Sion James, Ryan Kalkbrenner) and have done solid work on the trade market, particularly adding Collin Sexton and a second-round pick from Utah for Jusuf Nurkic. He also views Spencer Dinwiddie as a nice pickup on a veteran’s minimum deal.

The defending champion Thunder are the third team on Hollinger’s list of winners, bringing back 14 of their 15 players on standard deals while essentially replacing Dillon Jones with first-round pick Thomas Sorber. Oklahoma City is below the luxury tax line and also retained Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell on team-friendly deals, Hollinger observes.

The month of July is Hollinger’s biggest loser, as free agency is no longer the same type of event on the league’s schedule as it used to be, for a variety of reasons.

For actual teams, Hollinger thinks the Celtics and Pacers have taken steps back. He credits Boston’s front office for shedding the salaries of Porzingis and Jrue Holiday without having to attach sweeteners (the Celtics will actually receive two second-rounders from Portland in the Holiday deal).

But the Celtics also lost Luke Kornet in free agency and Al Horford is viewed as unlikely to return. And they still need to trim about $20MM from their books to move below the luxury tax to avoid the repeater penalty. The biggest question mark, according to Hollinger, is how can the Celtics position themselves to be a contender again in 2026/27, when Jayson Tatum has recovered from his torn Achilles tendon?

As for the Pacers, they’re on Hollinger’s list for losing longtime center Myles Turner to the division-rival Bucks in free agency. They still have pathways to find a new starting center, Hollinger writes, and their front office has largely done excellent work over the years. But Indiana is in a similar boat as Boston, with 2025/26 increasingly looking like a “gap year” in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles tear and more uncertainty heading into ’26/27 with Turner no longer on the roster.

We want to know what you think. Do you agree with Hollinger’s winners and losers? Most people seem high on the Rockets’ moves, but they weren’t included. I was also mildly surprised to not see the Pelicans on the list of losers. Head to comment section to weigh in with your thoughts.

Thunder Sign Thomas Sorber, Brooks Barnhinzer

July 3rd, 2025 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have signed first-round pick Thomas Sorber to his rookie scale contract, the team announced today in a press release.

Sorber, who stands 6’9″ with an impressive 7’6″ wingspan, was selected 15th overall last Wednesday by Oklahoma City a strong freshman year for Georgetown in 2024/25. He served as the team’s starting center and filled up the stat sheet with 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game in 24 outings (31.3 MPG) before his season ended early due to a toe injury.

As this year’s No. 15 pick, Sorber is expected to earn $4.66MM in the first year of his contract and a four-year total of $22.51MM. His deal will be guaranteed for the first two seasons, with team options on years three and four.

The Thunder also issued a separate press release confirming that they’ve signed Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer to a two-way contract. That had been the anticipated move, since Oklahoma City doesn’t have room on its standard 15-man roster for the No. 44 overall pick.

Barnhizer became automatically draft-eligible this spring after spending his full four-year college career playing for the Wildcats. He put up his best numbers as a senior in 2024/25, averaging 17.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 36.9 minutes per contest across 17 starts. However, he didn’t play after January 29 as a result of a foot injury.

And-Ones: Kokoskov, Luxury Tax Payments, 2026 Mock, Injuries, NBA TV

July 2nd, 2025 at 10:00am CST by Dana Gauruder

Hawks assistant Igor Kokoskov is leaving his position to become head coach of Turkish League team Anadolu Efes, according to Eurohoops.net. Kokoskov has signed a three-year contract.

Kokoskov has been an assistant in the NBA for 19 years, along with a stint as the head coach of the Suns during the 2018/19 season. He was also a head coach in the EuroLeague with Fenerbahce during the 2020/21 season.

Here’s more from around the international basketball world:

How much did NBA teams who stayed below the luxury tax get rewarded for keeping their salaries below the line? Non-tax teams collected $11,530,235 from the taxpaying clubs, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report tweets.
Is it too early to talk about the 2026 draft class? Not for draft experts like The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. He’s posted his first 2026 mock with Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer and BYU wing A.J. Dybantsa occupying the top three spots.
Thunder executive Sam Presti believes there’s a direct correlation between the number of games played and injuries. Presti mentioned the NBA’s 65-game rule to qualify for certain awards, the condensed schedule due to the in-season tournament and the recent uptick in physicality allowed by the league, according to an ESPN story.“I think the one thing we have to do is get away from the defensive nature of trying to convince people, players and teams that there’s no connection between the loads and the injuries,” Presti said. “I think it’s — we’re kind of bordering on a level of like, it’s almost insulting.”
TNT Sports will cease production efforts on NBA TV at the end of the league’s calendar year in September, according to the Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp. The league will begin operating the network starting Oct. 1. It will continue to carry some regular-season games during the 2025/26 season, plus WNBA, G League and other games from international leagues. One key element is that there will be far fewer live games on NBA TV once the new media-rights deal kicks in this fall with ESPN/ABC, NBC Sports and Prime Video, Karp adds.

Thunder’s Jalen Williams Undergoes Wrist Surgery

July 1st, 2025 at 1:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

July 1: Williams underwent surgery to address a torn scapholunate ligament in his right wrist, the Thunder confirmed in a press release on Tuesday. According to the team, he’ll be reevaluated in about 12 weeks. That would be roughly a week before training camp begins.

June 30: Thunder guard Jalen Williams will undergo surgery to fix a torn ligament in his right wrist, according to Rylan Stiles of the Locked on Thunder podcast (Twitter links).

General manager Sam Presti made the announcement today, revealing that Williams played two months with the injury. Presti added that the surgery was expected once the playoffs ended and said it’s impressive that Williams “kept moving along with no excuses and obviously played his best basketball down the stretch of the season.”

He added that Williams should be ready when next season tips off.

Williams made his first All-Star appearance this year and turned in the best season of his career, averaging 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 69 games. He was a third-team All-NBA selection and a second team All-Defensive honoree.

He was also one of the stars of Oklahoma City’s championship run, contributing a 40-point outburst in a Game 5 win over Indiana in the NBA Finals and averaging 23.6 PPG for the series.

Williams will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer that could cement his long-term future with the Thunder. He’ll make $6.58MM next season.

Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Complete Four-Year Super-Max Extension

July 1st, 2025 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

July 8: Gilgeous-Alexander’s lucrative new four-year mega-deal is now official, the Thunder confirmed in a press release.

July 1: The Thunder and reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have agreed to a four-year, super-max contract extension, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The contract will begin in 2027/28, adding four years to the two left on Gilgeous-Alexander’s current deal and locking him up through at least the ’29/30 season, with a player option for ’30/31, per Charania (Twitter video link).

While Charania refers to it as a $285MM payday for the Thunder star, the exact value of the contract will depend on where the 2027/28 salary cap ends up — Gilgeous-Alexander’s super-max extension will start at 35% of that season’s cap, with 8% annual increases from there. Charania’s projection assumes a 7% cap increase for next year, as projected by the NBA on Monday, followed by a 10% increase in 2027.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who will turn 27 later this month, is coming off one of the most successful seasons in NBA history. He racked up 32.7 points per game on a shooting line of .519/.375/.898 while also contributing 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 block per contest.

He followed up that regular season performance this spring by averaging 29.9 PPG during the postseason and leading the Thunder to their first title in Oklahoma City.

Those performances earned Gilgeous-Alexander MVP honors in both the regular season and the NBA Finals, making him the 16th player in league history to win both awards in the same year. It hadn’t happened since LeBron James pulled off the feat during the 2012/13 season.

Gilgeous-Alexander actually met the performance criteria for a super-max contract (also known as a “designated veteran” deal) in 2024 by making an All-NBA team for a second straight season, but wasn’t permitted to sign his extension until this summer because he hadn’t yet met the service-time criteria.

A player with between seven and nine years of experience typically has a maximum salary of 30% of the cap, but can qualify for 35% by being named MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, or All-NBA in the most recent season or in two of the previous three seasons.

Gilgeous-Alexander had the option of waiting another year to sign his super-max extension — at that time, he could’ve added a fifth year, increasing the total projected value to nearly $370MM. However, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he opted not to leave this sort of payday on the table for another year.

The Thunder will now shift their focus to two other key extension candidates, as both Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are eligible this offseason for rookie scale extensions as they prepare to enter their fourth year in the NBA.

QO Updates: J. Walker, A. Mitchell, Two-Ways, Mann

June 30th, 2025 at 8:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers opted not to tender forward Jabari Walker a qualifying offer prior to Sunday’s deadline, reports Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Twitter link). As a result, Walker will become an unrestricted free agent.

Walker put up solid numbers in a limited role for Portland last season, averaging 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game, with a .515/.389/.690 shooting line, across 60 appearances. However, his playing time dropped off significantly from the previous year, a signal that the Blazers were prioritizing other young players over the 22-year-old.

Meanwhile, the Thunder issued Ajay Mitchell a qualifying offer, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), who notes that it’s a procedural move for Oklahoma City, since the second-year guard has already agreed to sign a three-year, $9MM contract with the team. The QO will just ensure he’s a restricted free agent when free agency opens — he’ll be able to officially finalize that new deal on July 6.

The following players who finished the 2024/25 season on two-way contracts also received qualifying offers ahead of Sunday’s deadline, per Smith (unless otherwise indicated):

Branden Carlson, Thunder (link)
Jesse Edwards, Timberwolves (link)
Tyson Etienne, Nets (link)
Trentyn Flowers, Clippers (link)
Mac McClung, Magic (link)
Tristen Newton, Timberwolves (link)
Oscar Tshiebwe, Jazz (link via Tony Jones of The Athletic)

In each of these cases, the player’s qualifying offer is equivalent to another one-year, two-way deal, with a small portion (approximately $85K) guaranteed.

While a rival team could technically sign any of these players to an offer sheet during free agency, we essentially never see that happen with two-way free agents. Most of them end up either accepting their two-way QOs or agreeing to new standard contracts with their current teams.

While it’s possible that news of a qualifying offer slipped through the cracks within the last 24 hours, it appears that RealGM’s official transaction log is up to date with all of the QOs that were issued prior to Sunday’s deadline.

If that’s the case, one notable player who didn’t receive a qualifying offer is Hornets guard Tre Mann. His QO would have been worth about $6.96MM, but if Charlotte didn’t put it on the table, that means he’s on track to be unrestricted when free agency opens later today.

[UPDATE: Mann didn’t receive a qualifying offer, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype confirms (via Twitter).]

We’ll publish our full recap of 2025’s qualifying offer decisions later this morning.