🚨 On **GET UP**, NBA insider **Brian Windhorst** declares that by acquiring **Kevin Durant** — on top of strategic additions like **Clint Capela**, **Dorian Finney‑Smith**, and retaining **Fred VanVleet** — the **Houston Rockets** have officially become the **top threat to the reigning champion Thunder** in the Western Conference.
🏀 In this segment: - Windhorst breaks down why KD shifts the balance in Houston’s favor - Depth, size, defense — now Houston checks all the contender boxes - Why OKC’s crown could be challenged in a potential Western Conference Finals matchup - Expert reactions from ESPN panelists Bobby Marks, Tim Bontemps & Damien Woody
📌 Are the Rockets now true title contenders — or do the Thunder still hold the edge?
👇 COMMENT your thoughts below & don’t forget to **LIKE**, **COMMENT**, and **SUBSCRIBE** for more NBA Today/GET UP updates!
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00:00And the super max extension that he just got, Shams, how did both of these parties come together and get this done with OKC?
00:06This is the second max contract extension that Shea Gills-Alexander signed with Oklahoma City.
00:12He signed one in 2021. That was much more of a negotiation.
00:16This one between Sam Presti and Shea Gills-Alexander was, Shea Gills-Alexander, what do you want to sign for?
00:22He gets four years, $285 million, and that takes him through the 2030-31 season.
00:29I'm told that year Shea Gills-Alexander actually has a player option in that deal, so he could opt out come 2030.
00:37But listen, this relationship, since it started in 2019, it's been a fruitful one.
00:41There's so much trust, faith, collaboration on both ends of the spectrum here between these two sides.
00:47We see it's resulted in a championship.
00:50This team has so much staying power.
00:52Getting Shea Gills-Alexander locked up on the first full day of free agency was a big priority for the Thunder.
00:57Big priority for them. They get it done, and obviously a big deal for him with that $285 million.
01:04We appreciate the insight here on SportsCenter.
01:07Getting paid.
01:08Same fate as the Boston Celtics being the champions of the NBA world.
01:13With Chris Canty and Freddie Coleman, thanks for joining us on Sportsman Live, on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, Sirius X and Channel 80, as well as ESPN News.
01:20And he's not worried about Shea Gilgus-Alexander and his bank account.
01:25Best Canada Day ever for that country when one of their own SGA gets a four-year, 285 super maximum contract extension.
01:34He has $285 million to save the Oklahoma City Thunder.
01:38But yet, CC, even with him getting that new bag, you still have concerns about Oklahoma City suffering the same fate next year that the Celtics' last year's champions suffered this year.
01:48No, who said that?
01:51I had those concerns?
01:53What concerns do you have?
01:54No, I don't have those concerns.
01:56No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
01:56Okay, I just want to make sure we understand each other.
01:57See, see, see, there you go, Freddie.
01:59See, I know we got show beat.
02:00You know, Unsportsman Live, and Freddie and Harry got a little show beat.
02:04I know there's a problem.
02:05Drop the ether beat.
02:07Because you're trying to put words in my mouth right now.
02:09You're trying to lead me down the path.
02:10You saw right through me, didn't you?
02:12That's going to put me in a bad spot.
02:14You're trying to set me up for failure.
02:16See, I would never do that to you, but you literally just did that live on air.
02:20Try to frame it as me having concerns about the Oklahoma City Thunder going away in a Boston Celtics.
02:29I've been around Harry too long.
02:30No, no, no, no, no, sir.
02:31I've been around Harry too long.
02:32I do not have those concerns.
02:33Okay.
02:34I don't think the Thunder are going to be in bad shape anymore.
02:36All right.
02:37Why?
02:37Okay.
02:37Sam Presti has acquired a treasure trove of first-round draft picks into the foreseeable future.
02:44And that was the one thing that the Boston Celtics just did not have, right?
02:48You had Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown, but when you went out and got your finishing pieces,
02:52when you went out and acquired a guy like Drew Holiday, when you went out and you got a guy like Christos Porzingis,
02:57you didn't even really have a ton of draft capital to replenish the coffers when those players that were considered the supplemental pieces to your two co-stars started to become too expensive, right?
03:11It gets to a point when you do the cost-benefit analysis that those guys price themselves out, especially after you win a championship because everybody wants to get paid.
03:21So once that happens, you have to have a way of being able to replace guys that are not necessarily your top two or three players,
03:29but the guys that are four through six, four through seven, those reliable role players,
03:35you got to find cost-effective ways of being able to replace them.
03:39And that's where the draft picks come into play.
03:41So I think Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder are set up for success in a way that we haven't seen any recent champion.
03:49You know, I kid because I care when it comes to me and you.
03:53You know how I do as far as that goes.
03:54But here's how I'll back you up what you have to say in here.
03:56And it comes down to this.
03:58Shea Gilgis Alexander is now that dude in the NBA, period.
04:02End of story.
04:03Not just because he got the money, but the way he did last year winning an NBA championship and being the MVP of the league,
04:10leading the league in scoring, being the MVP in the finals.
04:12It was the first time for so many people to get a look at what the fuss was all about when it came to Shea Gilgis Alexander.
04:20He has that cool about him.
04:22He has that great sense of an old soul about him.
04:25But he's the ultimate teammate that has a superstar mentality.
04:29So he's now the dude in the NBA.
04:31I know that people say, what about this guy?
04:32What about that guy?
04:34This is now, right now, this is now Shea Gilgis Alexander's league when it comes to the NBA.
04:39It's no longer LeBron's.
04:40It has been LeBron's for a while.
04:41It's definitely not Steph Curry's or the Golden State Warriors.
04:44It almost could have been Tyrese Halliburton's had the Indiana Pacers won the NBA championship,
04:48and he led the way and did not get injured.
04:50But any other superstar that's out there, right now, CeCe, everybody is looking up at SGA.
04:57And don't think for one second that he doesn't know that.
05:00He don't have to say it.
05:01He don't have to step on a table and say, look at me.
05:04I'm the king.
05:05I'm the king of this jungle.
05:06I'm the lion in this you-know-what.
05:08But everybody knows, man, we got to go through Oklahoma City,
05:11which means that we have to go through that guy.
05:14SGA is now the dude in the NBA, and everybody knows it.
05:18Oh, yeah, for sure.
05:19I mean, when you get five trophies in one season, you're a monster, right?
05:23I mean, you're talking about him getting an MVP, a scoring title, the finals MVP.
05:29He got the Western Conference Finals MVP, and then he got the Larry O'Brien trophy.
05:37The dude got five trophies in one season.
05:40So I understand why he wants to take every penny, why he wants the contract,
05:43paying him the Supermax $71 million on average annual value.
05:48I get why he wants every penny.
05:50I don't think that SGA, in terms of his cost, is going to negatively impact the runway for OKC.
06:01Listen, when you have MVP caliber talent, those dudes cost what they cost.
06:04Yep.
06:05And SGA is one of the best scorers in the league.
06:09And you're talking about somebody that is still considered an ascending player.
06:14So I don't think that you can pay that guy his true value in terms of what he represents to your franchise.
06:18Then you couple that with Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, and you have a big three that you feel good about into the foreseeable future.
06:27Now, where those massive Supermax extensions come back to bite you is with the really, really talented role players.
06:35When you have guys like Lou Dort, who are considered one of the best defenders in the league,
06:41you might not be able to hang on to him long term.
06:43But that's why you got Cason Wallace.
06:45When you have a guy like Isaiah Hartenstein, you may not be able to hang on to him long term.
06:50Sure.
06:50Same thing with Isaiah Joe, Aaron Williams, all these dudes.
06:53You might not be able to hang on to those guys long term, but that's what you have all of those first-round draft picks for.
06:58Yeah.
06:58I mean, you're talking about this team having 10 first-round draft picks over the next five years.
07:05So, they're in good shape in terms of being able to keep top-end talent on the roster,
07:12even though they might have to let go of some of the really, really good role players that have proven themselves
07:18in terms of them being contributors on a championship squad.
07:23The trampoline off your point.
07:24SGA and Oklahoma City is about to find out what Kansas City Chiefs have gone through a lot in the National Football League.
07:29When you have that kind of success, people start raiding your death when it comes to that.
07:34A lot easier to do that, of course, in the National Football League, more players than the NBA.
07:38But you can't keep everybody, CeCe.
07:40You're spot on with that.
07:41And now, plenty of teams out there, they have a chance to raid Oklahoma City.
07:46That's why having those draft picks are going to be the gold coins that Sam Presti has,
07:51because he's going to lose guys.
07:53How do you replace those guys?
07:55Like Canty has been able to do in the NFL, it's going to be really key to any kind of sustainability
07:59that Oklahoma City is going to try to have in the NBA to keep this run going.
08:03No, there's no doubt about it.
08:05But, I mean, listen, we haven't seen a dynastic run this decade.
08:10And usually, the NBA has a dynasty for every single decade.
08:14It feels like OKC is setting up to be the latest iteration.
08:18Chris Canty, that's him.
08:19Freddie Cohen, that's me.
08:20Thanks for joining us on the Sportsman Live and ESPN Radio,
08:22the ESPN App Series, XM Channel 80, and ESPN News.
08:26Where's the power now in the Eastern Conference?
08:29And is it really in Cleveland with the Cavaliers?
