A number of 2023 free agents, such as Jerami Grant and Fred VanVleet, did very well for themselves on the open market this summer. However, the most lucrative contracts signed since the new league year began weren’t free agent deals at all — they were contract extensions.
Extensions, of course, don’t involve adding a new player to the roster. By extending a contract, a team ensures that a current player will remain locked up for multiple years to come. Although a contract extension may not change the club’s outlook on the court, it can have a major impact on that team’s salary cap situation for the next several seasons.
Rookie scale extensions are one form of contract extension. Former first-round picks who are entering the fourth and final year of their rookie deals are eligible to sign those up until the day before the 2023/24 regular season begins. It’s common for at least four or five players eligible for rookie scale extensions to sign them, and that number is often much higher — there were 11 rookie scale extensions signed in both 2021 and 2022.
[RELATED: Players Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions In 2023 Offseason]
While they used to be rarer than rookie scale extensions, veteran extensions are happening more frequently these days. The league’s 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement expanded the rules for eligibility and created some additional incentives for star players to sign new deals before they reach free agency, and the 2023 CBA has further incentivized veteran extensions. During the 2022/23 league year, a total of 23 veteran extensions were signed, more than doubling the amount of rookie scale extensions completed during that same window.
The deadline for a veteran extension for a player who isn’t in the final year of his current contract is the day before the regular season tips off. However, a player eligible for a veteran extension who is on an expiring deal can sign a new contract throughout the league year, all the way up to June 30, the day before he becomes a free agent.
Listed below are the players who have finalized contract extensions so far in 2023/24. This list, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site (or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu), will be kept up to date throughout the ’23/24 league year, with more extension details added as we learn them.
Note: Projected values for maximum-salary extensions are based on a $141,000,000 salary cap for 2024/25 and a 10% increase for 2025/26. Those contracts are based on a percentage of the cap, so their values would fluctuate depending on exactly where the ’24/25 and ’25/26 caps end up.
Rookie scale contract extensions:
- LaMelo Ball (Hornets): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $204,450,000. Projected value can increase to $245,340,000 if Ball meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
- Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $204,450,000. Projected value can increase to $245,340,000 if Edwards meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
- Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $204,450,000. Projected value can increase to $245,340,000 if Haliburton meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
- Desmond Bane (Grizzlies): Five years, $197,230,450 (story). Includes $8,669,550 in incentives. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
- Devin Vassell (Spurs): Five years, $135,000,000 (story). Includes $11,000,000 in incentives. Starts in 2024/25.
- Jaden McDaniels (Timberwolves): Five years, $131,000,000 (story). Includes $5,000,000 in incentives. Starts in 2024/25.
- Onyeka Okongwu (Hawks): Four years, $62,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Isaiah Stewart (Pistons): Four years, $60,000,000 (story). Includes $4,000,000 in incentives. Includes fourth-year team option. Starts in 2024/25.
- Deni Avdija (Wizards): Four years, $55,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Josh Green (Mavericks): Three years, $41,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Cole Anthony (Magic): Three years, $39,100,000 (story). Includes third-year team option. Starts in 2024/25.
- Aaron Nesmith (Pacers): Three years, $33,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Zeke Nnaji (Nuggets): Four years, $32,000,001 (story). Includes fourth-year player option. Starts in 2024/25.
- Payton Pritchard (Celtics): Four years, $30,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
Veteran contract extensions:
- Jaylen Brown (Celtics): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $286,230,000 (super-max). Includes trade kicker (lesser of 7% or $7,000,000). Starts in 2024/25.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks): Three years, maximum salary (story). Third-year player option. Projected value of $175,883,400. Starts in 2025/26.
- Anthony Davis (Lakers): Three years, maximum salary (story). Third-year player option. Projected value of $175,883,400. Starts in 2025/26.
- Domantas Sabonis (Kings): Four years, $175,616,000 (story). Includes renegotiation (2023/24 salary increased by $8,600,000 to $28,000,000). $184,216,000 in total new money. Includes $10,400,000 in incentives (plus $2,600,000 in existing incentives in 2023/24). Extension starts in 2024/25.
- Kawhi Leonard (Clippers): Three years, $149,650,000 (story). Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
- Jrue Holiday (Celtics): Four years, $134,400,000 (story). Includes fourth-year player option. Starts in 2024/25.
- Dejounte Murray (Hawks): Four years, $111,102,208 (story). Includes $9,015,993 in incentives. Includes fourth-year player option. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
- Josh Hart (Knicks): Four years, $80,915,820 (story). Includes fourth-year team option. Starts in 2024/25.
- Grayson Allen (Suns): Four years, $70,000,000 (story). Includes fourth-year player option. Starts in 2024/25.
- Kristaps Porzingis (Celtics): Two years, $60,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Jarred Vanderbilt (Lakers): Four years, $48,000,000 (story). Includes fourth-year player option. Starts in 2024/25.
- Zach Collins (Spurs): Two years, $34,821,696 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Jordan Clarkson (Jazz): Two years, $28,378,291 (story). Includes renegotiation (2023/24 salary increased by $9,227,629 to $23,487,629). $37,605,920 in total new money. Includes $1,134,081 in incentives. Extension starts in 2024/25.
- Kelly Olynyk (Raptors): Two years, $26,250,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Mike Conley (Timberwolves): Two years, $20,750,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
- Miles McBride (Knicks): Three years, $13,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
Note: Multiple veterans, including Nikola Vucevic (Bulls), Naz Reid (Timberwolves) and Harrison Barnes (Kings), signed extensions less than a week before the 2023/24 league year began. Those deals are listed in our 2022/23 extension tracker.