Grizzlies Sign Jaren Jackson Jr. To Four-Year Extension
1:55pm: Jackson’s extension is now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), the deal has a first-year salary of $28.9MM and declines annually from there. Marks also confirms that it’ll include prior injury exclusion (Exhibit 3) language related to Jackson’s left knee.
12:41pm: There will be injury protections in the deal, sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic. According to Vardon, if Jackson gets hurt again, the Grizzlies would have the ability to save some or all of the money they’d owe him.
We’ll have to wait for the specific details, but typically, that sort of contract language applies to a reoccurrence of a similar prior injury. For instance, the agreement might make Jackson’s future salaries non-guaranteed if he has more health issues related to his left knee.
Joel Embiid‘s rookie scale extension with Philadelphia had language along those lines. But again, we’ll have to wait for more specifics on Jackson’s deal.
10:40am: The Grizzlies and power forward Jaren Jackson Jr. have reached an agreement on a rookie scale extension, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Agent Austin Brown of CAA Basketball tells Wojnarowski that Jackson is signing a four-year, $105MM extension with the team. It will go into effect in 2022/23.
Jackson, 22, was the fourth overall pick in the 2018 draft and started 113 of the 115 games he played for Memphis in his first two NBA seasons. In 2019/20, he averaged 17.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 1.6 BPG on .469/.394/.747 shooting in 57 contests (28.5 MPG).
However, Jackson was sidelined for the majority of the ’20/21 campaign while recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He returned late in the season for just 11 games and didn’t quite look like he was back up to full speed, averaging 14.4 PPG on a modest .424/.283/.833 shooting line.
Despite coming off a season nearly entirely lost to injury, Jackson remains a key part of the Grizzlies’ long-term plans, along with guard Ja Morant, who will be up for a rookie scale extension of his own in 2022.
As Wojnarowski writes, Memphis views Jackson as one of the more versatile and dynamic young bigs in the NBA. The team chose to lock him up now rather than risk paying an even higher price in restricted free agency a year from now.
Wojnarowski’s report doesn’t indicate that Jackson’s $105MM deal is fully guaranteed, so we’ll have to wait to see if that number is buoyed by incentives or whether the agreement includes some non-guaranteed money or injury language. Still, it’s a nice payday for a player who has only appeared in 126 total regular season games.
Jackson’s new deal puts this year’s crop of rookie scale extensions over the $1 billion mark, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That figure includes massive, maximum-salary extensions for Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Michael Porter Jr., along with contracts ranging from $50-90MM for Mikal Bridges, Robert Williams, and Wendell Carter Jr.
The deadline to complete rookie scale extensions is at 5:00pm CT today, so more deals could still get done in the coming hours. We listed all the eligible players in an earlier story.
Northwest Notes: Simons, Gupta, Towns, Krejci
No rookie scale extension is expected for Anfernee Simons before today’s deadline, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic (Twitter link), who says the Trail Blazers want to see more from the fourth-year guard before committing to him beyond the 2021/22 season. The club believes Simons can be more consistent and productive under new head coach Chauncey Billups, Quick adds.
Simons hit 42.6% of his three-pointers last season for the Trail Blazers, but played a fairly modest role off the bench, with 7.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 64 games (17.3 MPG). He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2022.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Chris Hine of The Star Tribune takes an in-depth look at the philosophy new Timberwolves head of basketball operations Sachin Gupta is bringing to the role. Despite not having any assurances that he’ll keep the job long-term, Gupta insists he doesn’t feel pressure to impress ownership by making a major move. “I couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said. “I don’t view it as like, ‘Oh I’ve got this for a time. I’ve got to try and prove myself and I’ve got to make a splash quickly and try to save the job.'”
- Speaking to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns compared staying in Minnesota to sticking with the Dominican Republic national team rather than reclassifying to play for Team USA. “I like taking the hard route. I like going the more rewarding route,” Towns said. “I love being with the Dominican Republic national team. There’s a lot of things they haven’t done, and I’m able to possibly change that. The challenge is what I’ve always strived for.”
- Thunder guard Vit Krejci, who had been dealing with visa issues, has been cleared to practice and play with the team, head coach Mark Daigneault said this weekend (Twitter link via Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman). Krejci is expected to spend a good chunk of time this season with the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League.
Lakers Sign Jay Huff To Two-Way Contract
The Lakers have signed rookie free agent big man Jay Huff to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
A 7’1″ forward/center, Huff spent his college career at Virginia and was a full-time starter for the first time as a senior in 2020/21. He averaged 13.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 2.6 BPG with a stellar .585/.387/.837 shooting line in 25 games (27.0 MPG). Huff, who won a national title in 2019, made the All-ACC Second Team and the ACC All-Defensive Team in 2021.
After going undrafted in July, Huff caught on with the Wizards, signing an Exhibit 10 deal with the team in August and playing for Washington in both the Las Vegas Summer League and the preseason. He was cut last week, with the Wizards probably hoping he’d play for the Capital City Go-Go, their G League affiliate. Instead, Huff has caught on with another NBA team.
Huff is the fourth player the Lakers have signed to a two-way contract already since the new league year began in August. The team initially inked Austin Reaves and Joel Ayayi to two-way deals, but later promoted Reaves to the standard roster and released Ayayi. Sekou Doumbouya took Reaves’ two-way slot and now Huff has replaced Ayayi.
The Lakers still have an open spot on their 15-man roster.
Spurs Waive Al-Farouq Aminu
12:30pm: The Spurs have officially waived Aminu, per a team press release.
12:12pm: The Spurs are waiving veteran forward Al-Farouq Aminu, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
San Antonio had been carrying 16 players on guaranteed contracts, so cutting Aminu will ensure the team gets down to 15 for the start of the regular season. The Spurs will be on the hook for Aminu’s $10,183,800 salary, which will remain on their cap for the 2021/22 season.
Aminu, who signed a three-year, $29MM+ deal with Orlando in 2019, battled injuries throughout the contract, appearing in just 35 games for the Magic before he was sent to Chicago in the Nikola Vucevic trade at the 2021 deadline. He played in six games for the Bulls down the stretch, then was flipped to the Spurs in the DeMar DeRozan sign-and-trade this offseason.
A strong, versatile defender when healthy, Aminu was a starter in New Orleans and Portland earlier in his career, but was only traded to the Spurs for salary-matching purposes and wasn’t considered a keeper for the club. There was a little uncertainty about whether he’d be a victim of the preseason roster crunch, since his $10MM expiring deal could’ve been useful in a midseason trade, but it seems the Spurs decided it made more sense to release him than one of their younger players.
San Antonio also waived Luka Samanic last week in order to get down to 15 players on standard contracts for the regular season. The team does have an open two-way contract slot.
Celtics Sign Brodric Thomas To Two-Way Deal
11:29am: The Celtics have officially signed Thomas to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
8:02am: The Celtics are filling one of the open spots on their 17-man roster by signing guard Brodric Thomas to a two-way contract, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Thomas, 24, began his rookie season in 2020/21 with the Rockets after going undrafted out of Truman. He had his Exhibit 10 contract with Houston converted to a two-way pact at the end of the preseason, then appeared in four games with the Rockets before being waived in February. Thomas caught on with Cleveland on a new two-way deal less than two weeks later and finished the season with the Cavaliers.
In 32 total games for his two teams, Thomas averaged 3.9 PPG and 1.7 RPG on .361/.271/.674 shooting in 12.5 minutes per contest. He put up better numbers in the G League, with 18.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 3.5 APG on .447/.413/.571 shooting in 14 games (33.6 MPG) for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Canton Charge.
Thomas re-signed with the Cavs on another two-way deal this offseason, but was released last week.
Once Thomas officially joins the team, the Celtics will have 16 players under contract — Thomas and Sam Hauser on two-way pacts, plus 14 players on standard deals. It doesn’t appear the team will fill its final roster spot to start the regular season.
Elijah Bryant Signs With Anadolu Efes
After being waived by the Bucks last week, free agent shooting guard Elijah Bryant is headed overseas, having signed a two-year contract with Anadolu Efes, the Turkish team announced in a press release.
Bryant, 26, joined the Bucks during the last week of the 2020/21 regular season and was part of the group that won an NBA championship three months later. He put up 16 points and six rebounds in 32 minutes during Milwaukee’s regular season finale, then logged garbage-time minutes in 11 playoff contests.
The former BYU standout, who began his professional career by playing in Israel from 2018-21, was released by the Bucks in September, rejoined the team for training camp and the preseason, then was cut again last Thursday.
In addition to playing in Turkey’s top basketball league, Bryant’s new team also competes in the EuroLeague — Anadolu Efes won its first EuroLeague title earlier this year.
Contract, Roster Deadlines Loom For NBA Teams
We’re one day away from the start of the NBA’s 2021/22 regular season, making Monday the last day of the 2021 offseason. Today serves as the deadline for a number of contract- and roster-related decisions around the league. Here are the most important ones:
Rookie Scale Extensions
A total of 24 players entered the offseason eligible for rookie scale extensions. Seven of those players (Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Michael Porter Jr., Mikal Bridges, Robert Williams, and Wendell Carter Jr.) have already signed or agreed to new deals, while one (Chandler Hutchison) was waived. That leaves the following 16 players eligible to sign rookie scale extensions on Monday:
- Grayson Allen (Bucks)
- Deandre Ayton (Suns)
- Marvin Bagley III (Kings)
- Mohamed Bamba (Magic)
- Miles Bridges (Hornets)
- Troy Brown (Bulls)
- Donte DiVincenzo (Bucks)
- Aaron Holiday (Wizards)
- Kevin Huerter (Hawks)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
- Kevin Knox (Knicks)
- Josh Okogie (Timberwolves)
- Collin Sexton (Cavaliers)
- Landry Shamet (Suns)
- Anfernee Simons (Trail Blazers)
- Lonnie Walker (Spurs)
The majority of these guys won’t sign new deals until the 2022 offseason, when they’re eligible for restricted free agency. But it would be a surprise if at least a couple more players from this list don’t finalize rookie scale extensions today. Ayton, Bridges, Huerter, Jackson, and Sexton are some of the best candidates.
The deadline for rookie scale extensions is at 5:00pm central time.
Certain Veteran Contract Extensions
A veteran player who signed his current contract at least two years ago (or three years ago if it was a five-year deal) is eligible to sign an extension. That means many veterans around the NBA are eligible to sign contract extensions today, but that number will significantly drop as of tomorrow.
Once the regular season begins, only veterans in the final year of their contracts can sign extensions — a player that has multiple years remaining is no longer extension-eligible until the following offseason.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Veteran Contract Extension]
Let’s use the Pacers as an example. Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner, Caris LeVert, T.J. Warren, and Jeremy Lamb are all eligible for extensions, but of those five players, only Warren and Lamb are on expiring deals. Brogdon, Turner, and LeVert are under contract through 2022/23, so each of them could sign an extension today that covers up to three additional seasons. However, starting on Tuesday, all three will be ineligible to sign an extension until the 2022 offseason.
Someone who has a player option for 2022/23, like Wizards star Bradley Beal, could still sign a new deal during the season, but he’d have to eliminate that option to do so. Picking it up would make him ineligible to complete an extension until the 2022 offseason after today, since it would turn his contract into a multiyear deal, not an expiring one.
A small number of veterans who have 2022/23 player options won’t be able to decline them in order to sign an extension. Nets star James Harden, for instance, couldn’t replace his $47.37MM option for ’22/23 with the first year of a new extension, since he’s already earning more than the maximum, making him eligible for only a 5% raise on his current salary in an extension. That would result in a ’22/23 salary of $46.53MM, but the first-year salary in an extension can’t be lower than the player option it would replace.
That means if Harden wants to sign an extension, he’d have to pick up his player option so that his extension could begin in 2023/24. Since that would make his current contract a multiyear deal, he won’t be eligible for an extension during the season if he doesn’t finalize one today.
The deadline for veteran extensions for players on non-expiring contracts is at 10:59pm CT tonight.
Regular Season Rosters
Most teams around the NBA finalized their roster cuts on Saturday for financial reasons, as we explained over the weekend. However, today is the offiical deadline to reduce offseason rosters to the regular season limit of 15 players on standard contracts (plus two on two-way contracts).
While it’s certainly possible there will be some additional roster shuffling today as teams tweak their back-end roster spots or fill two-way openings, only two teams – the Hornets and Spurs – absolutely have to make cuts, as we detailed on Sunday.
The final day of the offseason is also the last day for teams to convert Exhibit 10 contracts into two-way deals. However, after David Duke, Malik Fitts, Tyler Cook, RJ Nembhard, Tacko Fall, and Daishen Nix had their Exhibit 10 deals converted into two-ways within the last week, there are no candidates left for this maneuver.
Finally, Monday is the last day for a free agent to be signed-and-traded. There’s no indication that any sign-and-trades are in the works.
Roster Moves Still Required For Hornets, Spurs
Nearly every NBA team currently has a roster in compliance with regular season limits — no more than 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
[RELATED: 2021/22 NBA Roster Counts]
However, there are still a couple teams that will need to make at least one cut before Monday’s regular season roster deadline: Charlotte and San Antonio.
The Hornets are carrying 18 players — a pair on two-way contracts, plus 16 on fully guaranteed deals. One of those 16 will have to be traded or released, and while Charlotte could surprise us, Wesley Iwundu looks like the most obvious odd man out. He was included in the summer Devonte’ Graham sign-and-trade deal for salary/cap purposes, and played limited minutes for the Hornets during the preseason.
The Spurs only have 17 players, but just one is on a two-way deal, leaving 16 on guaranteed contracts. Like the Hornets, they’ll have to trade or cut one of those players by Monday. Al-Farouq Aminu is San Antonio’s equivalent of Iwundu, having been acquired in an offseason sign-and-trade (of DeMar DeRozan) for salary-matching purposes. However, his $10MM+ expiring salary could make him a useful midseason trade chip, so the Spurs may be a little more reluctant to waive him now.
Jock Landale, Keita Bates-Diop, and Drew Eubanks are other possibilities, but the Spurs just gave Landale and Bates-Diop guaranteed money earlier this offseason, and Eubanks has taken on a slightly bigger role in each of his three years in San Antonio. Aminu still appears to be the most likely release candidate, but we’ll see today or tomorrow what the Spurs have in mind.
As we explained on Saturday, while most teams completed their roster moves early, the Hornets and Spurs can afford to take an extra day or two to consider their options without any financial ramifications, since they won’t be cutting a player who has a fully non-guaranteed contract.
While Charlotte and San Antonio are the only teams that have to make moves today or tomorrow, we’ll likely see a little more roster shuffling before Monday’s deadline. Players who have been waived by one team might appeal to another club that has an open roster spot or an expendable 15th man. And some teams carrying 15 players may decide to make one more cut to get down to 14.
Additionally, seven teams still have one open two-way contract slot and may look to fill those openings before the season begins. Those clubs are the Celtics, Warriors, Lakers, Magic, Suns, Spurs, and Wizards, as our tracker shows.
Knicks Sign Luka Samanic To Two-Way Contract
OCTOBER 16: The two-way contract is official, the Knicks announced (via Twitter).
OCTOBER 15: The Knicks are filling the open two-way contract slot on their roster by signing former first-round pick Luka Samanic to a two-way deal, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Samanic, the 19th overall pick in the 2019 draft, had been under contract with the Spurs up until this week, but San Antonio was facing a roster crunch, with 17 players on guaranteed salaries and only 15 roster spots for the regular season. The 6’10” power forward, a victim of that crunch, was waived on Monday.
Samanic appeared in 36 total games in two years as a Spur, averaging 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG on .430/.294/.576 shooting in 9.9 MPG. Despite his modest numbers in San Antonio, the Knicks apparently see some untapped potential in the 21-year-old Croatian.
A two-way contract will allow Samanic to play in up to 50 regular season NBA games, so he’ll likely spend some time with the Westchester Knicks in the G League. Jericho Sims is New York’s other two-way player.
Knicks Cut Brandon Knight, Aamir Simms, M.J. Walker
The Knicks have made their end-of-preseason roster cuts, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the team placed Brandon Knight, Aamir Simms, and M.J. Walker on waivers. All three players are candidates to join the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate.
Having released Knight, Simmons, and Walker, the Knicks are now carrying 16 players, including 15 on standard contracts. Luka Samanic is expected to be signed to a two-way contract to fill out the 17-man regular season roster.
Of those 15 players on standard deals, only Wayne Selden has a non-guaranteed salary. The Knicks will essentially be paying Selden by the day to start the regular season, so they could move on from him at any time, if they so choose. However, head coach Tom Thibodeau has mentioned a couple times this fall that he’s been impressed with the veteran wing behind the scenes, according to Katz (Twitter link).