5:13pm: The Pacers have officially signed Sabonis to his new extension, the team confirmed in a press release.
“I’m very excited to remain with the Pacers, this is where I wanted to be,” Sabonis said in a statement. “I appreciate the organization showing their confidence in me; and I’m ready to be part of what’s going to be a great year for our team.”
3:10pm: The parade of rookie scale extensions continues on deadline day, with Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis the latest player to agree to a new long-term deal, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania, Sabonis’ new four-year extension with Indiana is worth $74.9MM (Twitter link). ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links) has the value at $77MM in guaranteed money over four years, adding that the deal could be worth up to $85MM with incentives. Sabonis’ new contract, which goes into effect in 2020/21, won’t feature any team or player options, tweets Scott Agness of The Athletic.
It has been a wild few days for the Pacers and Sabonis, with a report on Friday night suggesting that the two sides were far apart in contract negotiations, prompting the team to explore the trade market in search of a possible deal. Indiana’s asking price was said to be “too high,” so it doesn’t appear as the club ever came close to actually moving the 23-year-old.
Still, it didn’t sound as if Sabonis and the Pacers were in a great place over the weekend. Asked about the situation on Saturday, the Lithuanian replied, “I know exactly how the Pacers feel about me now,” an apparent reference to those trade rumors. Given today’s news, that comment could have a very different meaning now, as the Pacers were willing to invest even more heavily in Sabonis than they did a year ago in Myles Turner, who received a four-year, $72MM deal.
Both Sabonis and Turner should be very movable on their new long-term contracts, so that’s still a path the Pacers could eventually explore. For now though, the plan is to play the two big men alongside one another in the starting lineup. That approach had mixed results last season, but the Pacers are invested in committing more time and energy to making it work.
Sabonis, 23, only started five games last season after making 85 starts in his first two seasons, but he still enjoyed his best season as a pro, averaging 14.1 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 2.9 APG in just 24.8 minutes per contest.
He and Turner, along with newly-acquired guard Malcolm Brogdon, will be tasked with helping the Pacers get off to a good start this season while their MVP – Victor Oladipo – remains on the shelf due to a quad injury.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Thought he was getting traded lol
He is…, probably this summer. I think the article mentions that his new contract shouldn’t be too tough to move…
My assumption as well. He and Turner are still not an ideal fit, so something has to give at some point unless that pairing exceeds expectations this season.
Good, keep that forwardless concept moving forward, see how it does.
There’s really not much of an alternative though. With Brogdan being the exception, good free agents aren’t rushing to join the Pacers. Maybe you can throw Bogdanovic in there too but his signing wasn’t considered a huge addition at the time. For the past 5ish years, the Pacers haven’t really adapted to the pace and space, 3pt shooting trend that the NBA is going through and they have still had success. With the way their roster is currently constructed, they have to try and pry open a championship window.
Good value for a trade piece, doubt he stays after the drama of the last week.
Maybe to OKC for Gallo and a protected first. OKC have lots of picks and a young core of SGA and Sabonis May be a good way forward. They obviously are looking at trading Adams so Sabonis would be a good replacement.
Pacers get back a first and Gallo. Having Warren and Gallo would be a nice duo, both can play SF and PF, both can score and play defence, both can shoot the 3. Those two along with Brogdon, Oladipo and Turner make a strong starting 5.
Man the good thing is that he can’t be traded this season, not until summer… So the only one been traded is Turner just now, next summer it will be what it will be!
Great deal. They can move Turner anytime, or flip Sabonis next season.
And if those two can somehow play together? They’ll have maybe the best frontcourt in the league.
Pacers are going to be scary when Oladipo returns. Not good enough to win it all, but good enough to make Milwaukee and Philly work for it.
The 3-4 seed in the east is not going to be particularly scary to anyone.
Milwaukee is a one-man team. Giannis twists an ankle and the series is over.
Philly has Glass Joel.
Look at the finals last season. A full-strength Warriors would have beat the Raptors in 5.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the 3 or 4 seed catches some injury luck and makes it to the ECF or Finals.
Didn’t know you couldn’t trade him. That’s interesting that he signed that knowing he would have to stay with the team. He could have waited till the end of the season when there is a lack of talent going to hit free agency and get himself a big bag