When the OKC Thunder extended Jalen Williams to his five-year, $239.9 million deal earlier this offseason, the consensus opinion seemed to be that the forward was worthy of every penny.
Now, following De'Aaron Fox's max-extension with the Spurs, there's a strong case to be made that Oklahoma City actually got themselves an absolute steal of a deal with the J-Dub signing.
On Monday, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania was first to report that San Antonio had re-upped with their star point guard on a four-year deal worth $229 million.
At first glance, one may believe that the Spurs are the ones who wound up coming away with the better bargain between him and Williams' pacts, as they're paying less money to a fellow All-NBA player who plays arguably the most important position in the sport.
However, when digging even slightly deeper than mere surface level, it goes without saying that the Thunder should be seen as having shelled out the far more enviable payday.
Thunder signing of Jalen Williams a steal compared to De'Aaron Fox deal
Designated Player language aside, despite being on the books for less money overall, Fox is slatted to receive an average salary of $55,598,592 a year, nearly $8 million more than Williams' $47,986,880.
On top of this, J-Dub's cap hit maxes out at 27.15 percent (his final year of the deal), while the Spurs guard starts at 30 percent and rises to as high as 32.13, where he'll be earning north of $60 million.
Furthering this discussion on cap hits, in the first year their deals come into play during the 2026-27 season, the point guard will be tied for 16 alongside guys like Luka Doncic and Bam Adebayo. The Thunder forward, meanwhile, finds himself all the way down at 30, tied with Paolo Banchero and teammate Chet Holmgren.
Now, let's add pay-increase superlatives into the mix.
Say Williams were to be named to the All-NBA Third-Team once again during the first year of his new deal during the 2026-27 season. This would hike up his cap hit just two spots to 28 in the league, still miles behind Fox.
Add all this to the fact that, at 24 years old, Williams is already considered arguably the best player at his respective position in the entire league, while, at 27, Fox rather easily falls outside of the top-five at his, and it's easy to see why the Thunder retaining their young cornerstone should be argued as a better bargain than the Spurs' re-signing theirs.