Sep. 26—OKLAHOMA CITY — There's been a lot of chatter the last few weeks surrounding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's future.

One person not involved in that discussion? Gilgeous-Alexander.

The 24-year-old point guard is entering the fifth season of his career and the first year of a five-year, $172 million contract. For Gilgeous-Alexander, the only focus is on the upcoming season.

"Honestly, I don't pay attention to like the NBA media stuff and what gets tweeted and what circulates around the web," Gilgeous-Alexander said during local media day Monday. "Try to stay focused with what I've got going on, me getting better, the guys that are on the team. Just try and just be a better team next season, a better player next season."

Hearing Gilgeous-Alexander say that should be nice for Thunder fans.

Other than that, here are some of the other takeaways from media day.

1. Kenrich Williams loves OKC: When asked about his contract extension he signed this past summer, Williams. Williams signed a four-year, $27.2 million contract during the offseason.

"I was definitely extremely grateful and blessed just to be valued by the organization, by the Thunder, to be able to be here with the guys and grow with these young guys," Williams said. "... I was celebrating with my family, my wife and my mom, just being around them. Just pretty much speechless. Whenever something like that happens, I just give all the praise and glory to God."

Lu Dort discusses contract extension: Just like Williams, Dort was able to sign a long-term deal with the Thunder on a five-year, $87.5 million deal. Dort expressed gratitude for the extension.

"I appreciate this organization just to trust me. I feel like I've grown so much being here," said Dort. "Im just happy to be here for the next 5 years."

Bulking up: Darius Bazley, Aleskej Pokusevski and Tre Mann all looked noticeably bigger than last season when they met with the media. On the training camp roster, Bazley was listed at 216 pounds, an eight-pound increase; Pokusevski was listed at 210 pounds, a 20-pound increase from last season; and Mann was listed at 190 lbs, a 12-pound increase.

"I was taking everything that the chefs cooked for us, so whatever was on the menu that day," Mann said. "I don't know if it was steak sometimes, chicken, broccoli, asparagus, rice, whatever the chefs cooked for us, that's what I took home, and I just ate that. They got like a chart that tells us if they're trying to gain how much we should eat. If we're trying to lose, maintain things like that. I just tried to take as much as I could."

Josh Giddey comments on Chip Engelland: Giddey spoke to the media for the first time since the Thunder brought in Engelland, the renowned shooting coach When asked about the addition to the coaching staff, Giddey said he was excited to hear the news.

"I had a big smile on my face. I told my agent I was with at the time, and he lit up. He was so excited for it," said Giddey. "When I heard about his reputation and who he'd worked with and what he'd done over such a long time, I was really excited and grateful that these guys wanted to spend resources and time into developing me as a player."

No Ty Jerome: The Thunder reported that Jerome would sit out media day as the team works with him to decide his future. This essentially means that Jerome will likely either be traded or waived from the Thunder.

The 25-year-old is entering his fourth season in the league and with a logjam of young guards on the roster, consistent rotation minutes would be hard to come by.

The Thunder acquired Jerome in the 2020 Chris Paul trade from the Phoenix Suns. In three seasons, Jerome has averaged 7.1 points and 2.3 assists on 37.8 percent shooting.

Clemente Almanza is a sports reporter intern for The Transcript. You can reach him via email at calmanza@normantranscript.com or on Twitter @CAlmanza1007