2020 NBA Rookie Scale Extension Recap
The NBA’s annual deadline for rookie scale contract extensions passed on Monday, with a flurry of deals completed just before time ran out. In total, 10 players eligible for rookie scale extensions signed new contracts this year.
We’ve seen an uptick in rookie scale extensions over the last couple years, but 2020 still represents an impressive high water-mark after 2019 featured nine such extensions. The last time as many as 10 rookie scale extensions were completed in a single league year was back in 2006, when players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were signing their second NBA contracts.
Here’s a breakdown of the 10 rookie scale extensions signed before this year’s deadline, sorted by total value. In cases where we haven’t yet seen the official contract terms for the extension, we’re basing our figures on the latest reports. These deals will go into effect beginning in 2021/22:
- Donovan Mitchell (Jazz): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $163,000,590. Projected value can increase to $195,600,710 if Mitchell earns All-NBA honors in 2021. Includes fifth-year player option and 15% trade kicker.
Jayson Tatum (Celtics): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $163,000,590. Projected value can increase to $195,600,710 if Tatum earns All-NBA honors in 2021. Includes fifth-year player option and 15% trade kicker.- Bam Adebayo (Heat): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $163,000,590. Projected value can increase to $195,600,710 if Adebayo earns MVP honors in 2021 ($185,820,675 for All-NBA First Team; $179,300,645 for Defensive Player of the Year).
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $163,000,590. Projected value can increase to $195,600,710 if Fox earns First Team All-NBA honors in 2021 ($182,560,660 for Second Team; $169,522,180 for Third Team).
- OG Anunoby (Raptors): Four years, $72,000,000 (story). Includes fourth-year player option.
- Derrick White (Spurs): Four years, $70,000,000 (story). Includes $5MM in incentives.
- Jonathan Isaac (Magic): Four years, $69,600,000 (story). Includes $10.4MM in incentives and Exhibit 3 injury protection.
- Luke Kennard (Clippers): Four years, $56,000,000 (story). Includes $8MM in incentives and a fourth-year team option.
- Markelle Fultz (Magic): Three years, $50,000,000 (story). Includes $3MM in incentives and partial guarantee in third year.
- Kyle Kuzma (Lakers): Three years, $39,000,000 (story). Includes third-year player option.
The first four extensions on this list were completed relatively early in the offseason and didn’t come as a surprise. Mitchell, Tatum, Adebayo, and Fox are considered crucial franchise building blocks for their respective teams, and there was no point in getting cute by waiting until the 2021 offseason to lock them up, since all four teams were prepared to offer the max.
The other six deals were arguably more interesting, since non-maximum-salary rookie scale extensions are generally trickier to negotiate.
The Spurs and Raptors, for instance, had to weigh how much they wanted to prioritize maximizing their cap room in 2021. Both teams cut into their projected room slightly by finalizing extensions with their respective fourth-year players, but that trade-off will be worth it if White and Anunoby have breakout seasons in 2020/21. Several other teams around the NBA will have significant cap room as well, and would’ve been in position to give those players more lucrative offer sheets.
The Lakers and Clippers each projected to be over the cap in 2021, so they were in position to negotiate new deals for their fourth-year players without really worrying about reducing their flexibility for next offseason.
While I don’t particularly love either Kennard’s or Kuzma’s new contract from a team perspective, I understand why each team felt compelled to act now. Kennard is an elite shooter who could’ve received offers in the range of Joe Harris (four years, $72MM) or Davis Bertans (five years, $80MM) if he stays healthy and has a nice year in Los Angeles. As for Kuzma, he’s only receiving a little more than the mid-level and it’s not a long commitment — that’s a relatively safe investment, and a deal he would’ve topped with a strong bounce-back 2020/21 season.
The Magic, meanwhile, completed perhaps the two most curious deals of the extension period, committing $80MM to Isaac, who will be out for the season with a torn ACL, and $50MM to Fultz, who has had one healthy season in the NBA and is a career 26.7% three-point shooter.
While Orlando may end up regretting one or both deals, I definitely don’t hate them. Isaac looked like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate before he got hurt last season, and would’ve been in line for a contract much closer to the max if he had stayed healthy. If the Magic feel good about his ability to make a full recovery, that deal will pay off in its later years.
As for Fultz, Orlando protected itself to some extent with a final-year team option, and frankly didn’t even give the former No. 1 pick that significant a raise — he’ll earn $12.3MM in the final year of his rookie contract in 2020/21. The contract isn’t long enough or expensive enough to ever become a real albatross if Fultz regresses or deals with more health issues. If he develops like the Magic believe he can – they reportedly feel as if he’s capable of become an “upper-echelon point guard” – it’ll be a bargain, though that’s a big if.
While 10 players signed rookie scale extensions, that leaves 13 players who were eligible for a new deal and didn’t get one (a 14th, T.J. Leaf, was waived by the Thunder on Saturday). Here’s the list of those players, who are now eligible to become restricted free agents during the 2021 offseason, assuming they finish their current contracts:
- Jarrett Allen (Nets)
- Lonzo Ball (Pelicans)
- Tony Bradley (Sixers)
- John Collins (Hawks)
- Zach Collins (Trail Blazers)
- Terrance Ferguson (Sixers)
- Josh Hart (Pelicans)
- Justin Jackson (Thunder)
- Lauri Markkanen (Bulls)
- Malik Monk (Hornets)
- Frank Ntilikina (Knicks)
- Dennis Smith Jr. (Knicks)
- D.J. Wilson (Bucks)
The most interesting names here are Allen, Ball, Collins (both of them), and Markkanen.
The lack of a new deal made some sense for Markkanen and the Collinses — the Bulls forward had a down year in 2019/20, while the Hawks‘ Collins missed 25 games due to a suspension and the Trail Blazers‘ Collins missed most of the season due to an ankle injury. All three players likely feel they can increase their value by staying on the court and playing to their full potential this season.
Ball also has an injury history, having missed some time in each of his three NBA seasons, so the Pelicans may have wanted another year to assess him — Ball’s agent Rich Paul also generally prefers to take his clients to free agency.
As for Allen, the Nets‘ financial situation may have played a part in the club’s decision to hold off on an extension. The team already has over $140MM in salaries on its books for 2021/22. Not extending Allen will also make it simpler to include him in a trade this season if the right deal arises. The poison pill provision would’ve applied if he’d inked a new contract, meaning he would’ve had significantly different outgoing and incoming cap figures, making salary-matching more challenging.
All of these players will be well positioned to land a big payday if they have big years in 2020/21, since there the 2021 free agent market lost plenty of talent due to all this year’s extensions and several teams still project to have big chunks of cap space.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Suns Claim Frank Kaminsky Off Waivers
The Suns have reunited with veteran forward/center Frank Kaminsky, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Phoenix claimed Kaminsky off waivers.
Kaminsky, 27, averaged 9.7 PPG and 4.5 RPG on .450/.331/.678 shooting in 39 games (19.9 MPG) for Phoenix in 2019/20. A patella stress fracture shortened his season, however, and he played a very limited role during the Suns’ 8-0 run in the bubble at Walt Disney World. The team declined his $5MM option for 2020/21 last month.
After being let go by the Suns, Kaminsky signed a non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract with the Kings, but was beaten out by Glenn Robinson III for the 15th spot on Sacramento’s roster and was cut on Saturday.
As a result of tonight’s waiver claim, Kaminsky is back in Phoenix on a much more team-friendly deal than the $5MM option the Suns turned down in November. Because the club had an open roster spot, no corresponding roster move was required to claim Kaminsky.
Bulls Notes: Young, Williams, Markkanen, Porter
There’s no timetable for Thaddeus Young‘s return after a bout with MRSA, a bacterial infection, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago reports. The Bulls forward had his leg drained after it swelled up and it’s healing well but he didn’t play in any preseason games.
“There will probably be some sort of ramp-up period for [Young], so to speak, in terms of he’s missed some conditioning and a lot of practice,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “He was dealing with a hamstring right around the time we started training camp. We’ll have to work to get him back.”
We have more on the Bulls:
- While the rest of the starting lineup seems set, the small forward position remains in flux, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times reports. Donovan is trying to choose between Otto Porter Jr. and lottery pick Patrick Williams and they bring different skills, Cowley notes.
- Lauri Markkanen didn’t receive a rookie scale extension prior to Monday’s deadline but he could still be a part of the long-term future, Cowley writes in a separate story. The new front office regime and Donovan simply put off making that decision by seeing what Markkanen does this season and allowing him to set a market price as a restricted free agent. The two sides never got close to an extension agreement, Cowley adds.
- Despite Porter’s massive $28.5MM expiring contract, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic predicts Chicago will move him at the trade deadline. The team would likely need to include multiple players, as any trade partner wouldn’t give up a high-salary starter for him.
Spurs Exercise Options On Walker, Johnson, Samanic
The Spurs have exercised their fourth-year team option on guard Lonnie Walker IV, as well as the third-year options on forwards Keldon Johnson and Luka Samanic, for the 2021/22 season, according to a team press release.
Walker will receive $4,447,896 during the 2021/22 campaign. Johnson will make $2.145MM and Samanic will get $2.96MM.
Walker, the 18th pick of the 2018 draft, appeared in 61 games last season and averaged 6.4 PPG and 1.1 APG in 16.2 MPG.
Johnson appeared in 17 games last season and averaged 9.1 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 17.7 MPG. He averaged 14.1 PPG in eight games during the Orlando restart. Johnson, a late first-round pick last year, also played 31 games for the G League Austin Spurs and averaged 20.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG.
Samanic, the 19th pick of the 2019 draft, appeared in three NBA games as a rookie. He also appeared in 33 games with the Austin Spurs, averaging 15.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG.
Thunder Waive Frank Jackson
9:32pm: The Thunder have officially waived Jackson, the team announced in a press release.
9:11pm: The Thunder are waiving guard Frank Jackson, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
Oklahoma City was the last team to get down to the 15-player opening-night limit, not including two-way players.
Jackson was vulnerable because OKC already had 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts and he had a partially guaranteed deal. He signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract earlier this month but only $250K was guaranteed.
Jackson, the 31st overall pick in the 2017 draft out of Duke, missed his entire rookie season with a foot injury, but appeared in 120 games for the Pelicans over the last two years, averaging 7.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 1.1 APG on .422/.319/.743 shooting during that time.
The 22-year-old was eligible for restricted free agency this fall, but the Pelicans opted not to tender him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Hawks Owner Ressler Pressed For Free Agent Spree
Majority owner Tony Ressler instructed the Hawks’ front office to pursue numerous free agents last month, leading to the team’s big spending spree, as Chris Kirschner of The Athletic details.
Following a three-year rebuild, Ressler told GM Travis Schlenk in a meeting prior to free agency to use all of the team’s cap space to fortify a young roster with quality veterans. The meeting also included coach Lloyd Pierce, assistant GM Landry Fields, and assistant coach and former Pacers head coach Nate McMillan.
“I said this to Travis: What’s the point of having all of this cap space if you don’t use it? That’s like looking at a fancy toy that you could never get your hands on. … We used every bit of that cap space,” Ressler said. “He did exactly what he was supposed to do, and I’m here with great confidence.”
The front office provided Ressler with a list of veteran players who would be good fits with their returning players, and the Hawks ended up getting several of their top targets, according to Kirschner.
The Hawks added Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn in free agency. Bogdanovic received the biggest deal, a four-year, $72MM offer sheet the Kings didn’t match. Gallinari (three-year, $61MM contract) was acquired in a sign-and-trade with Oklahoma City, while Rondo and Dunn signed two-year deals.
Ressler told Schlenk to flaunt the team’s ability to sign multiple free agents.
“I think Travis wanted everyone to know he had the most cap space in the NBA, and he (darn) well expected to use it. I think that was the message he sent when free agency began,” he said. “I didn’t know if he was going to be able to use it, but to his credit and really the entire basketball ops’ credit, they used it.”
Ressler drew the line on Monday when the team didn’t reach a rookie scale extension agreement with one of those quality young players, John Collins. However, Ressler does expect major improvement after spending all that capital.
“The objective is not, emphatically, to be the eighth seed in the playoffs and pound our chest and say, ‘Mission accomplished,’” Ressler said. “There’s a plan here, and this is clearly one step in the plan, which is to get appreciably better off a shortened 20-win season.”
Spurs Sign Derrick White To Four-Year Extension
7:12pm: It’s official, according to a team press release.
5:08pm: The Spurs have reached an agreement on a four-year extension for guard Derrick White, agent Mike Lindeman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). It’ll be worth $73MM, per Wojnarowski.
San Antonio’s strong commitment to White comes after a season in which he was just a part-time starter. White averaged 11.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 3.5 APG in 24.7 MPG in his third year in the league. He started 20 of 68 games after starting 55 of 67 games in his second season.
However, the Spurs recently signaled their intentions of retaining the combo guard long term when coach Gregg Popovich remarked, “He’s somebody we plan on for the future.”
White was the 29th pick of the 2017 draft. The Spurs backcourt is now set for years to come as they signed Dejounte Murray to a four-year extension worth up to $70MM last year.
With several veteran players coming off the books after this season, San Antonio will still have plenty of cap flexibility next summer. Factoring in White’s cap hold, the Spurs only sacrificed $6MM in space for the 2021 offseason. San Antonio could still have $50MM in cap room even with White’s extension factored in, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
White is currently sidelined after undergoing left toe surgery this fall.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Hawks Fail To Reach Extension Agreement With Collins
The Hawks failed to reach a rookie scale extension agreement with big man John Collins, who will enter restricted free agency after the season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
The Hawks felt like they made a competitive offer to Collins, and will still be interested in retaining him, according to Sarah K. Spencer of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Collins has previous started he should be in the conversation for a max deal, Spencer adds. Atlanta’s front office obviously wasn’t yet willing to commit that type of capital in an extension.
“I definitely would be a little disappointed, but business is business, sometimes you don’t get exactly what you want, or things don’t happen the way you planned,” Collins said on Monday on the possibility of not reaching an extension agreement. “But I was planning on playing all of these games, these 72 games, that are coming up this year anyway, so that’s just going to be the plan is to just lock in on those and make sure as the season’s over, I have the best ability to do whatever, in that case.”
Collins, the 19th pick of the 2017 draft, will certainly attract plenty of attention on the free agent market. He averaged 21.6 PPG and 10.1 RPG while shooting 40.1% on 3-pointers last season in 41 games.
How high the Hawks will go to keep him in restricted free agency could hinge on his defensive improvement, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Collins has proven to be an offensive force and will be even more dangerous if he improves his ball-handling. But his long-term fit with Trae Young is in question since he hasn’t legitimized himself yet as a rim protector and perimeter defender, Kirchner notes.
Collins could theoretically be the centerpiece of a deal to acquire another star player, Kirchner adds.
Stephen Curry On Potential Extension: “Nothing To Report”
Because he still has two years left on his current deal, today is the last day for Warriors star Stephen Curry to sign a veteran contract extension this season. But with that deadline approaching, it doesn’t appear the two sides plan to work out a new deal today.
“Nothing to report,” Curry said when asked about a possible extension (Twitter link via Anthony Slater of The Athletic).
Curry said two weeks ago that he and Golden State had spoken about a potential extension and that he was “fully committed” to the franchise. If the two sides don’t finalize anything today, that doesn’t mean that either side is any less committed to a long-term relationship — it just means that they’ll put off talks until the 2021 offseason.
Curry will earn $43MM in 2020/21 and then $45.78MM in 2021/22, the final season of the five-year contract he signed with the Warriors back in 2017. He’d become an unrestricted free agent in 2022 if he doesn’t sign an extension before then.
Extension-eligible veterans must be on expiring deals to sign a new contract during the season. In addition to Curry, the list of veterans who will no longer be extension-eligible until the 2021 offseason after today includes James Harden, Joel Embiid, Aaron Gordon, Jusuf Nurkic, Zach LaVine, T.J. Warren, and Marcus Smart, among others, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Raptors Sign OG Anunoby To Four-Year Extension
5:34pm: Anunoby’s extension is now official, the Raptors announced in a press release.
“OG is the epitome of the skilled, powerful, determined player we want in our organization long-term. Remember, he doesn’t shoot to miss,” general manager Bobby Webster said in a statement. “We’re really pleased that OG will be with us for seasons to come.”
4:52pm: The Raptors have agreed to sign forward OG Anunoby to a four-year contract extension worth $72MM, agent Omar Wilkes tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The final year of Anunoby’s new deal will feature a player option, Wojnarowski adds. According to Blake Murphy of The Athletic (Twitter link), the extension is structured to increase by the maximum 8% annually to allow Toronto to maximize its 2021 cap room. It won’t include any bonuses or a trade kicker, Murphy adds (via Twitter).
While the extension will cut into the Raptors’ projected cap space to some extent, the difference in minimal, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who notes (via Twitter) that Anunoby would have had a $11.7MM cap hold as a restricted free agent. Instead, he’ll have a starting salary of $16.1MM, reducing Toronto’s space by just over $4MM.
The Raptors have now locked up three key young pieces for the next several seasons. Pascal Siakam‘s extension kicks in this season and keeps him under contract through 2023/24. Fred VanVleet was re-signed this offseason for four more years, with the last one including a player option.
Anunoby’s extension could turn out to be a bargain if he continues to improve, and the Raptors will still have cap flexibility next summer, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports notes (Twitter link).
Anunoby averaged a career-best 10.6 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 29.9 MPG as a starter last season. He’s also considered a defensive stalwart and averaged 1.4 SPG.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.