Thunder, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl Agree To Four-Year Deal

August 10, 2021

The Thunder and second-round pick Jeremiah Robinson-Earl have agreed to a four-year deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Charania reports that the agreement is worth $8MM, which is a big number for a player picked in the second round. A four-year, minimum-salary deal for Robinson-Earl would be worth approximately $6.3MM, so it sounds like he’ll earn more than the minimum in at least the first and second years of the deal. It’s unclear how many of the four years will be fully guaranteed.

Robinson-Earl, a 6’9″ forward, averaged 15.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and 2.2 APG in 25 games (34.5 MPG) for Villanova as a sophomore in 2020/21, earning Big East co-Player of the Year honors.

Robinson-Earl was selected with the 32nd pick in the draft by the Knicks on behalf of the Thunder. Oklahoma City paid a significant price to move up two spots to nab the 20-year-old, sending New York the 34th and 36th overall picks in the deal.

Although the Thunder could open up a huge chunk of cap room by renouncing their various cap exceptions, it looks like they intend to operate as an over-the-cap team for the time being, which means Robinson-Earl will be signed using a portion of the club’s mid-level exception.