The deadline for teams to reach rookie-scale extension agreements with eligible fourth-year players is a little more than two weeks away. Blake Griffin got the max from the Clippers in July, and Serge Ibaka reached a four-year, $49MM accord with the Thunder in August, but those are the only two players to sign extensions so far this offseason. History indicates there will be more, and all of them don't figure to be as lucrative as the deals Griffin and Ibaka got.
Though some of the rules have changed since the new CBA was implemented in 2011, most notably the stipulation that only one player per team may receive a five-year deal, a look back at rookie-scale extensions from the last several years reveals some clues about the kind of players who might get extensions this year. The volume of secondary players on this list suggests guys like Eric Maynor, Gerald Henderson and Taj Gibson won't be overlooked by their teams, despite most of the extension talk centering around names like James Harden, Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings.
While the idea behind a rookie extension is to lock a player up long-term, it doesn't mean the player is a safe bet to finish the contract with his team. Jameer Nelson is the only one of the five players who inked a five-year extension in 2007 who remains with the team he signed with, and he's with the Magic only because he signed a new deal this summer after opting out of the final season of his extension.
The extension recipients are listed below by the year in which they signed. The extensions kick in the season after they're signed, meaning the agreements reached in 2007 didn't show up in the ledger until 2008/09. For more about players eligible for extensions this year, check out our Extension Candidate series.
2011/12 (usual October deadline extended into January because of the lockout)
- Danilo Gallinari, Nuggets (four years, $42MM)
- Kosta Koufos, Nuggets (three years, $9MM)
- Kevin Love, Wolves (four years, $60.826MM)
- Russell Westbrook, Thunder (five years, $78.585MM)
- Derrick Rose, Bulls (five years, $94.315MM)
2010
- Mike Conley, Grizzlies (five years, $40MM)
- Jared Dudley, Suns (five years, $21.25MM)
- Al Horford, Hawks (five years, $60MM)
- Joakim Noah, Bulls (five years, $60MM)
- Kevin Durant, Thunder (five years, $89.163MM)
2009
- Rajon Rondo, Celtics (five years, $55MM)
- Renaldo Balkman, Nuggets (three years, $5.025MM)
- Thabo Sefolosha, Thunder (four years, $13.8MM)
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers (five years, $62.5MM)
- Brandon Roy, Blazers (five years, $82.303MM)
- Andrea Bargnani, Raptors (five years, $50MM)
2008
- Danny Granger, Pacers (five years, $60MM)
- Jason Maxiell, Pistons (four years, $20MM)
- Martell Webster, Blazers (four years, $20MM)
- Andrew Bynum, Lakers (four years, $57.2MM)
- Francisco Garcia, Kings (five years, $29.6MM)
- Deron Williams, Jazz (four years, $62.6MM)
- Andrew Bogut, Bucks (five years, $60MM)
- Chris Paul, Hornets (four years, $62.6MM)
2007
- Kris Humphries, Raptors (three years, $9.3MM)
- Al Jefferson, Timberwolves (five years, $65MM)
- Jameer Nelson, Magic (five years, $38.5MM)
- Devin Harris, Mavericks (five years, $43MM)
- Kevin Martin, Kings (five years, $53MM)
- Dwight Howard, Magic (five years, $83.236MM)