The Mavericks have locked in Justin Anderson‘s salary for the 2017/18 season, exercising their team option on the third year of his rookie contract, per RealGM’s transactions log. The move guarantees Anderson’s $1,579,440 salary for the ’17/18 campaign.
[RELATED: Offseason In Review: Dallas Mavericks]
The deadline for teams to make 2017/18 option decisions on rookie contracts is October 31, but the Mavs didn’t exactly need to take their call on Anderson down to the wire. Although the Virginia product didn’t make a huge impact in his rookie season in Dallas, averaging 3.8 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 55 regular-season contests (11.8 MPG), he appears poised to take on a bigger role as he continues to develop his game.
Anderson’s salary also represents a very small fraction of what the Mavericks will spend on player salaries for the next few seasons. Assuming the cap for 2017/18 rises to at least $102MM, as expected, Anderson’s salary would only represent about 1.5% of that figure.
The 6’6″ forward, who will turn 23 next month, would get another salary bump to about $2.52MM in 2018/19, assuming the Mavs exercise that option next fall. That would put Anderson on track for a contract extension in 2018 or potential restricted free agency in 2019.