Extension Notes: Kuminga, Kispert, Johnson, Gordon, Bridges
Although the Warriors think Jonathan Kuminga has All-Star potential, they weren’t willing to sign him at this time to the kind of long-term rookie scale extension he was seeking without a more concrete belief that he’ll reach that level, writes Monte Poole of NBC Bay Area.
[RELATED: No Extension For Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors]
As Poole explains, no one on Golden State’s roster besides Stephen Curry is making $30MM+ per year and Kuminga was seeking a deal that was worth “well beyond that amount.” While the Warriors aren’t opposed to making that sort of commitment to the fourth-year forward, they want to see more from him this season before signing off on such a significant contract.
“He took a leap last season,” one source told Poole. “They want to see another one before they make that investment. He’s still under their control. If Kuminga has a strong season, I know they’ll take care of him.”
Without a rookie scale extension in place, Kuminga will be a restricted free agent in 2025, giving the Warriors the right to match any offer sheet he signs with a new team.
Here are a few more notes from around the NBA on the contract extensions that did and didn’t get done on Monday:
- Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link) provides the year-by-year breakdown of Corey Kispert‘s four-year, $54MM+ extension with the Wizards, which will be worth $13.975MM in each of the first two years, then $13.05MM in years three and four. As previously reported, the final year is a team option.
- Jalen Johnson‘s five-year, $150MM extension with the Hawks will have a flat structure, with $30MM annual cap hits, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
- As part of his extension with the Nuggets, Aaron Gordon picked up his $22.84MM option for 2025/26 rather than turning it down and getting a 40% raise (to $31.98MM) for that season. The Nuggets will be subject to the repeater tax and increasing tax rates next season, so the structure of the deal will allow them to save a projected $60MM in tax penalties for ’25/26, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
- Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic take a closer look at the impact of the Gordon extension, with Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth weighing in on why the team felt the need to get a deal done: “In many ways, Aaron is the heart and soul of the team. He does a lot of things on the floor that makes us go. The guys rally around him in the locker room, and now with this agreement, we can move forward as a unit. We are built as a team to go deep into the playoffs.”
- The Knicks made the best extension offer they could to Mikal Bridges prior to Monday’s deadline, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, New York was capped at approximately $61MM over two years due to extend-and-trade restrictions, whereas the team will be able to offer about $156MM over four years next offseason, so Bridges was always expected to hold off on a new deal.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) takes a look at what’s next for some of the top players who didn’t sign rookie scale extensions by Monday’s deadline, including Kuminga and Bulls guard Josh Giddey, as well as highlighting a few of the notable veterans who remain eligible to sign extensions during the season, like Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram.
2024 NBA Rookie Scale Extension Recap
The NBA’s annual deadline for rookie scale contract extensions passed on Monday, officially bringing the extension period for 2021 first-round picks to an end.
There was some speculation that there may be a downturn in rookie scale extensions this year, given the lack of projected cap room around the NBA in 2025. However, that turned out not to be the case, as 11 eligible players signed new contracts this year.
We’ve seen a noticeable uptick in rookie scale extensions in recent years, with at least 10 such deals completed in each of the last five offseasons. Prior to 2020, the last time as many as 10 rookie scale extensions were signed 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.
Since 2020, however, the total rookie scale extensions by year has been as follows:
Here’s a breakdown of the 11 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 and will update these numbers as necessary. These deals will go into effect beginning in 2025/26.
Note: Projected values for maximum-salary extensions are based on a 10% annual salary cap increase in 2025. If the cap doesn’t increase by that much, those max extensions won’t be worth as much, since they’re based on a percentage of the cap.
Scottie Barnes (Raptors): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $224,238,150. Projected value can increase to $269,085,780 if Barnes meets Rose Rule performance criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker.- Cade Cunningham (Pistons): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $224,238,150. Projected value can increase to $269,085,780 if Cunningham meets Rose Rule performance criteria.
- Evan Mobley (Cavaliers): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $224,238,150. Projected value can increase to $246,661,965 or $269,085,780 if Mobley meets Rose Rule performance criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker.
- Franz Wagner (Magic): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $224,238,150. Projected value can increase to $246,661,965 or $269,085,780 if Wagner meets Rose Rule performance criteria.
- Alperen Sengun (Rockets): Five years, $185,000,000 (story). Includes fifth-year player option.
- Jalen Suggs (Magic): Five years, $150,500,000 (story).
- Jalen Johnson (Hawks): Five years, $150,000,000 (story).
- Trey Murphy (Pelicans): Four years, $112,000,000 (story).
- Jalen Green (Rockets): Three years, $105,333,333 (story). Includes third-year player option and 10% trade kicker.
- Corey Kispert (Wizards): Four years, $54,050,000 (story). Includes fourth-year team option.
- Moses Moody (Warriors): Three years, $37,500,000 (story). Includes $1,500,000 in incentives.
As is typically the case, the maximum-salary deals were completed relatively early in the offseason, with Barnes, Cunningham, and Wagner all signed by July 10 and Mobley’s deal coming a couple weeks later.
While I’m not necessarily surprised that those four players got max extensions, it’s worth noting that their career résumés are a little lighter than what we typically see from that group of maximum-salary players. Barnes is the only one of the four who has earned an All-Star nod. By comparison, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, and LaMelo Ball had each made an All-Star team before signing their max extensions a year ago.
That’s not to say that this year’s maximum-salary rookie scale extensions are ill-advised investments, but they’re certainly big bets on continued growth from those four players.
No rookie scale extension agreements were reached between July 22 – when Mobley signed his contract with the Cavs – and October 19, but we got a flurry of action in the final 24 hours before Monday’s deadline, with Warriors guard Moses Moody striking a deal on Sunday night and six more players following suit on Monday.
Moody’s three-year, $39MM deal with Golden State was the smallest of 2024’s rookie scale extensions in terms of both overall money and average annual value, but it’s one of the more intriguing deals of the year. Securing $39MM in guaranteed money is a big win for a player who has never averaged more than 17.5 minutes per game or made more than 11 starts in a season, but Moody still has enough upside that the contract could turn into a steal for the Warriors.
Kispert got the only other rookie scale extension worth less than $100MM overall, with his new four-year deal coming in a little under the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. That’s a fair price for a player who can spread the floor like Kispert, and it could look more team-friendly if he continues to expand his offensive game and/or improves defensively.
I wasn’t necessarily expecting the Rockets to extend Sengun and Green at this time, since they could have put themselves in position to be a cap-space team in 2025 by not locking up that duo quite yet.
That option is likely off the table now, but that’s OK — Houston did well to get Sengun for nearly $40MM below his projected max, and the deal with Green is a unique one that could be a win-win. The former No. 2 overall pick gets a nine-figure payday while the Rockets get another two or three years to observe his growth and assess whether he’s worth a more lucrative longer-term commitment.
Reporting leading up to Monday’s deadline indicated that Suggs and Johnson were among the players seeking $30MM+ annual salaries on rookie scale extensions. Both players got there, just barely, on new five-year contracts with their respective Southeast clubs. Already an All-Defensive player, Suggs is poised to take on more offensive responsibilities in 2024/25 and beyond. If he handles that increased offensive role well, he should deliver a solid return on investment for the Magic.
The Johnson deal could be viewed as a risky bet on a relatively small sample, since the forward had played an extremely limited role for the Hawks in his first two seasons before breaking out in an injury-shortened year in 2023/24. But there’s a path to stardom for Johnson, and if he continues along that path, that $30MM annual salary will eventually look like a bargain for Atlanta.
Finally, Murphy locked in a new deal at $28MM per year with the Pelicans, who have now secured Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, Herbert Jones, and Murphy on long-term contracts. Murphy’s extension suggests that either Brandon Ingram or CJ McCollum might be playing for a new team within a year or two, since the cost-conscious Pels would have to go well into luxury tax territory to hang onto both veterans beyond 2025.
A total of 24 players entered the offseason eligible for rookie scale extensions, so almost half the players in that group signed them. That leaves 13 players who didn’t reach agreements and will be entering contract years.
Here’s that list of those players, who are now eligible to become restricted free agents during the 2025 offseason, assuming they finish out their current contracts:
- Santi Aldama (Grizzlies)
- Chris Duarte (Bulls)
- Josh Giddey (Bulls)
- Quentin Grimes (Mavericks)
- Bones Hyland (Clippers)
- Isaiah Jackson (Pacers)
- Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors)
- Tre Mann (Hornets)
- Davion Mitchell (Raptors)
- Day’Ron Sharpe (Nets)
- Jaden Springer (Celtics)
- Cam Thomas (Nets)
- Ziaire Williams (Nets)
Kuminga is the most noteworthy extension candidate not to sign a new deal before Monday’s deadline. He and the Warriors reportedly had discussions throughout the offseason but didn’t ultimately gain serious traction toward an agreement.
Golden State’s offer was rumored to be in the neighborhood of $30MM per year, whereas a maximum-salary extension for Kuminga would have been worth in the $43-45MM range. He’ll bet on himself this season in hopes of securing a huge payday in restricted free agency.
Giddey and Thomas are among the other notable extension candidates who didn’t get new deals and could be targets for lucrative offer sheets in July of 2025. I had viewed players like Aldama, Grimes, Jackson, and Mann as potential candidates for modest extensions, but they’ll have to prove their worth this season too.
A few players in this group – like Duarte, Springer, and Williams – never looked like serious extension candidates and will need to make their case this season that they’re worthy of qualifying offers in 2025 free agency.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that there were six players selected in the first round of the 2021 draft who weren’t eligible at all for rookie scale extensions entering this offseason, for various reasons. Those players are as follows:
- James Bouknight: Fourth-year option declined by Hornets in 2023; waived in 2024.
- Josh Christopher: Waived by Grizzlies in 2023.
- Usman Garuba: Waived by Thunder in 2023.
- Keon Johnson: Waived by Suns in 2023.
- Kai Jones: Waived by Hornets in 2023.
- Joshua Primo: Waived by Spurs in 2022.
Of these six players, only Johnson is currently on a standard NBA contract — he has a non-guaranteed deal with the Nets. Christopher (Heat) and Jones (Clippers) are on two-way contracts, while Garuba is playing in Spain for Real Madrid. Bouknight and Primo aren’t on a roster and may open the season in the G League.
Rockets, Alperen Sengun Finalize Five-Year Extension
5:35pm: Sengun has officially signed his new contract with the Rockets, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
4:49pm: The Rockets and big man Alperen Sengun have reached an agreement on a five-year rookie scale extension, agents Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz tell Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal is worth $185MM, with a fifth-year player option, according to Marks.
Sengun, 22, is coming off a breakout season that saw him finish third in Most Improved Player voting. He set new career highs in points (21.1), rebounds (9.3), assists (5.0), and steals (1.2) per game while making 53.7% of his field goal attempts in 63 starts (32.5 MPG) before ankle and knee injuries prematurely ended his season.
Despite Sengun’s star turn, there was uncertainty entering the fall about whether or not he and the Rockets would work out a rookie scale extension, since Houston wasn’t expected to offer him a maximum-salary deal at this time and was in position to maximize its 2025 cap room by postponing a new deal for Sengun. If he had entered next offseason as a restricted free agent, Sengun would have had a cap hold of just $16.3MM.
However, Sengun said on media day that he was interested in signing an extension before the 2024/25 season tipped off and Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle reported at the time that there was a “legitimate chance” the two sides would reach a deal.
Having agreed to terms with both Sengun and Jalen Green, who signed a three-year, $105.3MM extension, the Rockets now appear poised to operate over the cap next summer rather than under it.
They also have two of their cornerstone players locked up for multiple seasons beyond 2024/25. In addition to Sengun and Green, Rockets youngsters Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, and Reed Sheppard are also under contract through at least 2027.
Sengun is one of seven players to complete a rookie scale extension in the past 24 hours, joining Jalen Johnson, Jalen Suggs, Trey Murphy, Corey Kispert, Moses Moody, and his teammate Green.
Hawks Sign Jalen Johnson To Five-Year Extension
5:34pm: Johnson’s extension, which just narrowly beat the 5:00 pm Central time deadline, is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
5:07pm: The Hawks have agreed to sign forward Jalen Johnson to a five-year rookie scale extension worth $150MM, agent Rich Paul tells NBA reporter Chris Haynes (Twitter link). The deal will be fully guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Johnson, who will turn 23 in December, has steadily gained a bigger foothold in the Hawks’ rotation since seeing limited action in 22 games as a rookie in 2021/22. He broke out in a major way in his third NBA season, averaging 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals in 33.7 minutes per game while posting a shooting line of .511/.355/.728 in 56 outings (52 starts).
Injuries prevented Johnson from playing a full season in 2023/24, but he’s healthy this fall and appears poised to take another step forward for a retooling Hawks team that traded away one of its primary offensive options (Dejounte Murray) over the summer. Johnson has been one of the betting favorites for the Most Improved Player award ahead of the season.
With Johnson poised to take on a more significant role in year four, it made sense for the Hawks to move now to secure him to a long-term contract, since he could further increase his value with a big season in ’24/25.
Johnson’s $30MM-per-year extension puts him right in line with the five-year, $150.5MM deal that Jalen Suggs completed with the Magic and is the seventh-biggest rookie scale extension signed this offseason, behind Suggs, Alperen Sengun, and the four players who got maximum-salary commitments (Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner).
Johnson and No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher project to be long-term cornerstones in Atlanta, while young center Onyeka Okongwu is also under contract for the next four seasons. Atlanta’s performance in 2024/25 may go a long way toward determining whether three-time All-Star Trae Young is also considered a part of that future core beyond his current contract, which has two guaranteed years remaining.
Wizards Sign Corey Kispert To Four-Year Extension
5:16pm: Kispert’s extension is official, the Wizards announced in a press release.
“Corey is someone who positively impacts our environment daily. He consistently shows up for the organization as both a player and a teammate, embodying the passion and professionalism we value,” Dawkins said in a statement. “We are excited that he has the opportunity to continue his growth and development in Washington. He’s a relentless worker who has added to his game each season. We look forward to his further evolution in the coming years.”
3:53pm: The Wizards are signing swingman Corey Kispert to a four-year, $54MM rookie scale extension, agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The deal will include a team option on the fourth year, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Kispert, 25, has been a regular part of Washington’s rotation since being selected out of Gonzaga with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft. He averaged a career-high 13.4 points per game last season while also chipping in 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.8 minutes per night across 80 outings (22 starts).
Kispert’s calling card is his ability to knock down outside shots. Over the past two seasons, he has converted 40.2% of 5.6 three-point attempts per contest, making him a valuable floor-spacer.
Since Kispert was drafted by the Wizards’ previous front office, it wasn’t clear leading up to Monday’s extension deadline whether the current decision-makers would value him highly enough to sign him to a long-term deal.
However, president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins showed last fall in extending Deni Avdija that they’re willing to lock up young talent if the price is reasonable, even if that player was a carryover from the previous regime and isn’t necessarily a lock to be in the team’s long-term plans — Avdija was traded this July.
It’s possible Kispert could eventually emerge as a trade candidate too for the rebuilding Wizards, though moving him in 2024/25 would be tricky due to the poison pill provision.
A full four-year mid-level exception contract in 2025 is projected to be worth just over $60MM, so Kispert’s contract will come in a little below that figure.
Pelicans, Trey Murphy Complete Four-Year Extension
5:03pm: Murphy has officially signed his contract, the Pelicans announced (via Twitter).
11:05am: The Pelicans have reached an agreement with Trey Murphy on a four-year rookie scale extension worth $112MM, agents Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
The deal, which will begin in 2025/26 and will keep Murphy out of restricted free agency next summer, won’t include a player option, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com. It also doesn’t feature any incentives, per Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The 17th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy has emerged as an integral part of the Pelicans’ rotation. In 57 games last season, he set new career highs in points (14.8), rebounds (4.9), and assists (2.2) while knocking down 38.0% of 7.8 three-point attempts per game. The 24-year-old is quickly becoming one of the NBA’s most dangerous outside shooters, with a career rate of 39.2% from beyond the arc.
Murphy’s extension isn’t far off from the five-year, $135MM deal that Devin Vassell signed with the Spurs last October. Vassell’s contract features one extra year and a slightly lower average annual value ($27MM per year, compared to $28MM for Murphy).
Murphy is the sixth player to agree to a rookie scale extension in 2024, joining Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Franz Wagner, and Moses Moody. The deadline for those deals is now just a few hours away.
Signing Murphy to a rookie scale extension ensures that the Pelicans now have four of their core players – Murphy, Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, and Herbert Jones – locked up through at least 2027.
One notable exception is Brandon Ingram, who is entering the final year of a five-year, maximum-salary contract. As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), after accounting for Murphy’s extension, New Orleans projects to be about $31MM below the tax line in 2025/26, so a new deal for Ingram would almost certainly push the club beyond that threshold. That will be an important factor to consider for a Pelicans team that has never been a taxpayer.
Murphy is expected to miss some time at the start of this season, according to Charania. The Pelicans announced 18 days ago that Murphy has a right hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in three weeks.
Magic Sign Jalen Suggs To Five-Year Extension
4:08pm: Suggs’ extension with the Magic is official, according to a press release issued by the team (Twitter link).
The $150.5MM deal is fully guaranteed, with no options, according to NBA reporter Jake Fischer and The Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede (Twitter links).
3:37pm: The Magic have agreed to sign guard Jalen Suggs to a five-year rookie scale extension worth $150.5MM, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
According to Charania (via Twitter), Suggs’ agent Darren Matsubara and team officials held a series of meetings in Orlando leading up to Monday’s extension deadline in order to finalize the terms of the deal.
Suggs’ NBA career got off to a bit of a slow start after he was selected fifth overall in the 2021 draft, as he battled injuries and struggled with his shot during his first two seasons. However, he enjoyed an impressive breakout year in 2023/24, averaging a career-high 12.6 points per game with a .471/.397/.756 shooting line and earning a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team. He also showed up on Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year ballots.
With Markelle Fultz no longer in the point guard picture in Orlando, Suggs will likely be given more offensive responsibilities in his fourth NBA season and is poised to improve upon his career averages of 11.5 PPG and 3.2 APG while continuing to play lock-down defense on the other side of the ball.
As we wrote multiple times earlier in the offseason, Suggs’ camp likely viewed the five-year, $131MM extension Jaden McDaniels signed last fall as a point of reference for the Magic guard’s new deal. Like Suggs, McDaniels was considered one of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders and showed off an improved three-point shot in his third season before signing his second contract.
However, Suggs has a bigger offensive role than the Timberwolves forward and was able to secure an annual salary exceeding $30MM on his extension (assuming that $150.5MM total isn’t being inflated by incentives) compared to $26.2MM per year for McDaniels.
Suggs is the second core Magic player to sign a lucrative rookie scale extension this offseason, joining teammate Franz Wagner, who got a five-year, maximum-salary contract. Paolo Banchero is the next man up — he’ll become eligible for his own rookie scale extension in 2025.
Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter Jr. also signed long-term veteran extensions with Orlando this offseason and are each under contract through at least 2028.
Rockets Sign Jalen Green To Three-Year Extension
4:05pm: The Rockets have officially signed Green to his extension, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
According to NBA reporter Jake Fischer (Twitter link), Green’s new deal features a 10% trade kicker. Meanwhile, the year-by-year breakdown provided by Marks (Twitter link) suggests the exact value of the contract is right around $105.3MM.
2:48pm: The Rockets and guard Jalen Green have agreed to terms on a three-year rookie scale extension worth $106MM, agents Aaron Mintz, Andrew Morrison, and Shakira Wardally tell Shams Charania and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal will include a third-year player option.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Green has averaged 19.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game in his 225 NBA outings (all starts).
Green’s shooting percentages during his first three seasons have been modest (.421/.337/.794) and his defense has been inconsistent, but he has shown tantalizing flashes of putting it all together, including during a 15-game stretch near the end of the 2023/24 season when he averaged 29.2 PPG on .488/.422/.782 shooting and led the Rockets to 13 wins in 15 games to keep them in the play-in hunt.
The terms of Green’s new deal are quite unusual for a few reasons. For one, most rookie scale extensions cover at least four seasons and those that don’t are typically far less lucrative contracts signed by role players.
Based on our research, the largest three-year rookie scale extension signed prior to this year was the $52.5MM contract Caris LeVert received in 2019. Green’s contract will more than double the annual average value of LeVert’s.
Green also received a player option, which has become a rarity for rookie scale extensions. Of the 31 rookie scale extensions completed since 2022 prior to this deal, just one featured a player option, and that contract (for Nuggets big man Zeke Nnaji) was for four years. Green’s option will be for the 2027/28 season, allowing him to potentially reach unrestricted free agency at age 25.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), because Green’s new contract is for just three years instead of four or five seasons, he’ll also become eligible for his next extension earlier than most rookie scale extension recipients. He’ll be able to sign an extension worth up to a projected $227MM+ over four years as of October 26, per Marks.
While it remains to be seen whether or not the Rockets will try to become a cap-space team during the 2025 offseason, Green’s new contract won’t necessarily affect their ability to do so, since he would’ve had a significant cap hold (exceeding $37MM) as a restricted free agent. His first-year salary on his new deal will be $33.5MM, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), which is a little more than $5MM below his projected max.
No Extension For Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors
Fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga won’t sign a rookie scale extension with the Warriors before Monday’s deadline, according to reports from Shams Charania and Kendra Andrews of ESPN and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
The two sides have discussed a possible extension since Kuminga became eligible in July, but never gained traction, per ESPN. With no deal in place, the 22-year-old remains on track to become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025.
The Warriors and the forward were “never all that close” in their negotiations, according to Slater, who says Kuminga might’ve accepted a deal below his maximum but that Golden State didn’t increase its offer beyond something close to $30MM per year. A max deal would’ve been worth in the neighborhood of $43-45MM annually.
Kuminga enjoyed a breakout season in 2023/24, averaging 16.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game on .529/.321/.746 shooting in 74 appearances (26.3 MPG).
Kuminga enjoyed his best stretch of the year shortly after a report in January indicated he had lost faith in head coach Steve Kerr. The two men reportedly met to clear the air and Kuminga began playing a more significant role. From January 12 through March 26, he averaged 20.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 2.7 APG on .547/.377/.778 shooting in 34 games before being hampered by knee tendinitis near the end of the season.
Charania reported last week that Kuminga is comfortable with the idea of betting on himself in a contract year. And while the Warriors have statistics that favorably compare his growth so far to that of stars like Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, and Jaylen Brown, they want to see how he continues to develop in 2024/25, sources tell ESPN. Golden State is also continuing to monitor his fit with Kerr, per Charania and Andrews.
After starting 46 of his 74 regular season outings last season, Kuminga is expected to be in the starting five for Wednesday’s opener vs. Portland, sources tell Slater. Team sources have described starting as “important” to the forward, according to Charania and Andrews, though he has told ESPN that he’d be OK with starting or coming off the bench.
Kuminga will earn approximately $7.6MM in the final year of his rookie scale contract and will remain trade-eligible this season before reaching restricted free agency next July.
The Warriors reached a three-year, $39MM deal with their other rookie scale extension candidate, Moses Moody, on Sunday.
Jazz Pick Up 2025/26 Options On Four Players
The Jazz have exercised their 2025/26 rookie scale team options on four players, the team announced today in a press release. Those four players and their accompanying options are as follows:
- Taylor Hendricks (third year, $6,127,080)
- Walker Kessler (fourth year, $4,878,938)
- Keyonte George (third year, $4,278,960)
- Brice Sensabaugh (third year, $2,693,760)
After an impressive rookie season in which he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting, Kessler didn’t take a real step forward as a sophomore in 2023/24, with his averages slipping a little in categories like PPG (8.1), RPG (7.5), and FG% (.654). However, he’s still just 23 years old and is on an extremely team-friendly contract. He’ll now be eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2025 and will become a restricted free agent in 2026 if he doesn’t sign a new deal next offseason.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2025/26 Rookie Scale Team Options]
Hendricks, George, and Sensabaugh were first-round picks in the 2023 draft. Of the three, George saw the most significant role as a rookie, starting 44 of his 75 games and averaging 27.0 minutes per night. While he struggled to score efficiently, making just 39.1% of his shots from the floor (33.4% from beyond the arc), he showed real promise in his age-20 season, averaging 13.0 PPG and 4.4 APG.
Hendricks averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.6 RPG on .450/.379/.793 shooting in 40 games (23 starts) in his rookie year, while Sensabaugh had 7.5 PPG and 3.2 RPG on .390/.296/.902 shooting in 32 outings (11 starts). Both players only really saw significant playing time down the stretch after the Jazz fell out of the play-in race, but they should get an opportunity to earn more regular roles from day one in 2024/25.
The Jazz will have to make fourth-year option decisions on Hendricks, George, and Sensabaugh by October 31, 2025.