Decisions On 2021/22 Rookie Scale Team Options

Under the revamped schedule for the 2020/21 league year, NBA teams have until December 29 to make decisions on the third- and fourth-year team options for players on rookie scale contracts.

All the players whose options will be exercised or declined by December 29 are already under contract for the 2020/21 season. Their teams will have to make a decision on whether they want to lock in those players’ contracts beyond the coming season, picking up or turning down team options for the 2021/22 campaign.

For players who signed their rookie scale contracts in 2018 and have already been in the NBA for two years, teams must decide on fourth-year options for 2021/22. For players who just signed their rookie deals last year and only have one season of NBA experience under their belts, teams will already be faced with a decision on third-year options for ’21/22.

In many cases, these decisions aren’t hard ones. Rookie scale salaries are affordable enough that it usually makes sense to exercise most of these team options, even if a player isn’t a key cog on the roster. And for those players who do have a significant role on a team’s roster, the decision is even easier — it’s not as if the Mavericks ever considered turning down their option on Luka Doncic, for instance.

Still, we’ll wait for a trusted reporter, the NBA, a player (or his agent), or a team itself to confirm that an option is indeed being exercised or declined, and we’ll track that news in this space.

Listed below are all the rookie scale decisions for 2021/22 team options that clubs must make by December 29. This list will be updated throughout the rest of the month as teams’ decisions are reported and announced. The salary figures listed here reflect the cap hits for each team.

Here are the NBA’s rookie scale team option decisions for 2021/22 salaries:


Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

Charlotte Hornets

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets

Detroit Pistons

Golden State Warriors

Houston Rockets

  • None

Indiana Pacers

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

  • None

Memphis Grizzlies

Miami Heat

Milwaukee Bucks

Minnesota Timberwolves

New Orleans Pelicans

New York Knicks

Oklahoma City Thunder

Orlando Magic

Philadelphia 76ers

Phoenix Suns

Portland Trail Blazers

Sacramento Kings

San Antonio Spurs

Toronto Raptors

  • None

Utah Jazz

  • None

Washington Wizards

Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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