What Jalen Williams' first All-Star selection means for the future of the Thunder

For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the OKC Thunder will have two of their players representing the franchise in the NBA All-Star Game.

Thursday night, it was officially announced that Jalen Williams will join teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in San Fransisco for next month's illustrious exhibition.

For Williams, this honor serves as the ultimate accreditation for his play.

Through 45 games played, the 23-year-old has been posting career-best averages of 21.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and just shy of a block while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor.

Thanks to his willingness to plug multiple rotational holes amid the team's widespread injury woes, he's also easily been one of the main contributing factors toward Oklahoma City taking command of the top seed in the Western Conference standings at 37-9.

However, while his All-Star nod is a clear sign that his efforts are being recognized by those residing outside of the 73102, it's also an accomplishment that now guarantees Jalen Williams will be eligible for an even bigger bag once contract negotiations come around.

Jalen Williams can ask for big money from Thunder after All-Star nod

As things currently stand, Jalen Williams is playing through the third year of his four-year rookie scale contract. Come the conclusion of this campaign, he will be able to enter into negotiations for a new, long-term deal.

While the expectation has always been that the forward was on track to earn a substantial pay raise with his second NBA contract, his new All-Star distinction now essentially guarantees that he'll be putting pen to paper on a maxed-out extension.

For the crop of rookies who are eligible for this type of price tag, that will earn them a whopping $246.7 million over a five-year span (average salary of $49.3 million per year).

Of course, his extension talks will be coming right around the time when fellow Thunder cornerstones Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren will also be eyeing new deals of their own. The former will likely find himself earning around max money (though, with his injury record, it's hard to predict) while the latter could be gearing up for a $296 million pact himself.

Right now, the title-hungry Thunder are essentially playing with house money, as a large chunk of their top-seeded roster is still attached to highly affordable, rookie-scale deals. From a league-wide perspective, they rank as having the seventh-lowest payroll in 2024-25.

On the one hand, this type of success with such a young roster is certainly exciting. They're coming off a historic season in which they became the youngest team in league history to win a playoff series and, halfway through this year, are seen by many as a legitimate championship threat.

However, on the other, as former All-Star Gilbert Arenas recently put it, "The fact that they're all playing well, they have to be paid."

Though Jalen Williams being selected to join Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the 2025 All-Star Game is an exhilarating example of just how talented and special this Thunder core is shaping up to be, it's also a reminder of just how expensive things are about to get in only a couple of years.