Under the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deadline for teams to sign fourth-year players to rookie scale extensions has been moved up from October 31 to the last day before the regular season begins, but Halloween remains an important date on the NBA’s calendar. It’s the last day that clubs can exercise team options on the rookie scale contracts of former first-round picks.
All the players whose options will be exercised or declined by October 31 are already under contract for the 2017/18 season. Their teams will have to make a decision on whether they want to lock in those players’ contracts beyond the coming season, picking up or turning down team options for the 2018/19 campaign.
For players who signed their rookie scale contracts in 2015 and have been in the NBA for two years, teams must decide on fourth-year options for 2018/19. For players who just signed their rookie deals last year and only have one season of NBA experience under their belts, teams will already be faced with a decision on third-year options for ’18/19.
In many cases, these decisions aren’t hard ones. Rookie scale salaries are so affordable – particularly with the salary cap poised to surpass $100MM next summer – that it usually makes sense to exercise most of these team options, even if a player isn’t a key cog on the roster. And for those players who do have a significant role on a team’s roster, the decision is even easier — it’s not as if the Knicks would even consider declining their option on Kristaps Porzingis. In fact, they’ve already picked it up.
Still, we’ll wait for a trusted reporter, the NBA, a player (or his agent), or a team itself to confirm that an option is indeed being exercised or declined, and we’ll track that news in this space.
Listed below are all the rookie scale decisions for 2018/19 team options that clubs must make by October 31. This list will be updated throughout the rest of the offseason, as teams’ decisions are reported and announced. The salary figures listed here reflect the cap hits for each team — players’ actual salaries will be a little higher, since recent first-round picks received pay bumps as a result of the new CBA.
Here are the NBA’s rookie scale team option decisions for 2018/19 salaries:
Atlanta Hawks
- Taurean Prince (third year, $2,526,840): Exercised
- DeAndre’ Bembry (third year, $1,634,640): Exercised
Boston Celtics
- Jaylen Brown (third year, $5,169,960): Exercised
- Terry Rozier (fourth year, $3,050,390): Exercised
Brooklyn Nets
- D’Angelo Russell (fourth year, $7,019,698): Exercised
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (fourth year, $2,470,357): Exercised
- Caris LeVert (third year, $1,702,800): Exercised
Charlotte Hornets
- Frank Kaminsky (fourth year, $3,627,842): Exercised
Chicago Bulls
- Kris Dunn (third year, $4,221,000): Exercised
- Cameron Payne (fourth year, $3,263,294): Exercised
- Jerian Grant (fourth year, $2,639,314): Exercised
- Bobby Portis (fourth year, $2,494,346): Exercised
- Denzel Valentine (third year, $2,280,600): Exercised
Cleveland Cavaliers
- None
Dallas Mavericks
- None
Denver Nuggets
- Emmanuel Mudiay (fourth year, $4,294,480): Exercised
- Jamal Murray (third year, $3,499,800): Exercised
- Trey Lyles (fourth year, $3,364,249): Exercised
- Juan Hernangomez (third year, $2,166,360): Exercised
- Malik Beasley (third year, $1,773,840): Exercised
Detroit Pistons
- Stanley Johnson (fourth year, $3,940,402): Exercised
- Henry Ellenson (third year, $1,857,480): Exercised
Golden State Warriors
- Kevon Looney (fourth year, $2,227,081): Declined
- Damian Jones (third year, $1,544,951): Exercised
Houston Rockets
- None
Indiana Pacers
- Myles Turner (fourth year, $3,410,284): Exercised
- Domantas Sabonis (third year, $2,659,800): Exercised
Los Angeles Clippers
- Sam Dekker (fourth year, $2,760,095): Exercised
- Brice Johnson (third year, $1,544,951): Declined
Los Angeles Lakers
- Brandon Ingram (third year, $5,757,120): Exercised
- Larry Nance Jr. (fourth year, $2,272,391): Exercised
Memphis Grizzlies
- Jarell Martin (fourth year, $2,416,222): Exercised
- Wade Baldwin (third year, $1,955,160): Waived
Miami Heat
- Justise Winslow (fourth year, $3,448,926): Exercised
Milwaukee Bucks
- Rashad Vaughn (fourth year, $2,901,565): Declined
- Thon Maker (third year, $2,799,720): Exercised
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Karl-Anthony Towns (fourth year, $7,839,435): Exercised
- Tyus Jones (fourth year, $2,444,053): Exercised
New Orleans Pelicans
- None
New York Knicks
- Kristaps Porzingis (fourth year, $5,697,054): Exercised
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Josh Huestis (fourth year, $2,243,326): Declined
Orlando Magic
- Mario Hezonja (fourth year, $5,167,231): Declined
Philadelphia 76ers
- Ben Simmons (third year, $6,434,520): Exercised
- Jahlil Okafor (fourth year, $6,313,832): Declined
- Dario Saric (third year, $2,526,840): Exercised
- Justin Anderson (fourth year, $2,516,048): Exercised
- Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (third year, $1,544,951): Exercised
Phoenix Suns
- Dragan Bender (third year, $4,661,280): Exercised
- Devin Booker (fourth year, $3,314,365): Exercised
- Marquese Chriss (third year, $3,206,160): Exercised
Portland Trail Blazers
- None
Sacramento Kings
- Willie Cauley-Stein (fourth year, $4,696,875): Exercised
- Buddy Hield (third year, $3,833,760): Exercised
- Georgios Papagiannis (third year, $2,400,480): Exercised
- Malachi Richardson (third year, $1,569,360): Exercised
- Skal Labissiere (third year, $1,544,951): Exercised
San Antonio Spurs
- Dejounte Murray (third year, $1,544,951): Exercised
Toronto Raptors
- Jakob Poeltl (third year, $2,947,320): Exercised
- Delon Wright (fourth year, $2,536,898): Exercised
- Pascal Siakam (third year, $1,544,951): Exercised
Utah Jazz
- None
Washington Wizards
- Kelly Oubre (fourth year, $3,208,630): Exercised
- Chris McCullough (fourth year, $2,243,326): Declined
Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.