The 2024-25 NBA season begins Tuesday, but before the games begin, several teams signed notable players to contract extensions on the final day of the offseason.
Earlier this summer, four players drafted in the 2021 class —ย Detroit Pistonsย guardย Cade Cunningham,ย Cleveland Cavaliersย forwardย Evan Mobley,ย Toronto Raptorsย forwardย Scottie Barnesย andย Orlando Magicย big manย Franz Wagnerย — signed extensions for maximum deals worth five years, $225 million.
With so few teams projected to have significant salary cap space next season amid new restrictions due to the collective bargaining agreement, Monday’s signings included other top young players locking in guaranteed money instead of waiting until free agency.
We also saw one key veteran sign a new extension on Monday with a team looking to return to the NBA Finals.
ESPN NBA Insider Kevin Pelton reacts to Monday’s key deals and what they mean for their teams ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Agreed to a reported five-year, $185 million extension with centerย Alperen Sengun
Agreed to a reported three-year, $106 million extension with guardย Jalen Green
If you had set the over/under total on Rockets rookie extensions at 0.5, I probably would have taken the under. Instead, Houston ended up agreeing to deals with both of the team’s 2021 first-round picks, who have developed into core starters on a rising young team.
The Sengun extension is particularly surprising because the Rockets could have utilized his small $16.3 million cap hold to potentially create space next summer before re-signing him as a restricted free agent, similar to how theย Philadelphia 76ersย waited on signingย Tyrese Maxeyย in order to signย Paul George.
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But the two sides compromised on a deal that pays Sengun a little more than 80% of the expected $224 million max for rookie extensions. That’s a win for the Rockets given Sengun was as productive as any 2021 draft pick last season, when he averaged 21.1 PPG, 9.3 RPG and 5.0 APG and finished third in voting for Most Improved Player.
The trade-off that surely made this contract palatable for Sengun was getting a player option on the fifth year, a luxury that typically has been reserved for rookie extensions for elite players.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted,ย Luka Doncicย andย Trae Youngย wereย the last two players to get that option. If Sengun develops into a superstar, Houston might regret not pushing for a straight five-year deal, particularly given even Maxey didn’t manage to get a player option on his new deal.
However, securing Sengun at considerably less than the maximum could prove important as the Rockets manage a number of quality young players graduating from rookie contracts to more lucrative extensions.
Green is one such case, and he got a creative extension that might work better for him than for Houston. The negotiations with Green figured to be complicated by differing views on his value around the league. The No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, Green hadn’t yet played up to the max level achieved by the other three players taken in the top four (Cunningham, Mobley, Barnes) — all of whom already agreed to extensions over the summer.
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