When the NBA’s 2021/22 league year begins in August, players eligible for free agency will be able to begin negotiating and reaching contract agreements with suitors. In addition to those free agents, another group of players will also become eligible to sign new deals.
For players who are entering the fourth and final year of their rookie scale contracts, the first day of the new league year (August 3) is the first day they can agree to rookie scale extensions. Those players, who were 2018 first-round selections, will have until October 18 (the day before the ’21/22 regular season starts) to finalize long-term agreements with their current teams.
Players eligible for rookie scale extensions can sign new deals that run for up to four – or five – years, with those contracts taking effect beginning in 2022/23. If they don’t sign extensions during the coming offseason, those players will be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2022.
Ten players who were eligible for rookie scale extensions signed new deals during 2020’s brief offseason window. That number was higher than usual, but we’ve seen an uptick in rookie extensions during the last couple years as more teams look to lock up their promising young players in advance of free agency. We should expect several more rookie scale extensions to be signed in August, September, and October of 2021.
Here are the players who will be eligible to sign rookie scale extensions during the 2021 offseason:
- Grayson Allen (Bucks): Extended
- Deandre Ayton (Suns)
- Marvin Bagley III (Kings)
- Mohamed Bamba (Magic)
- Mikal Bridges (Suns): Extended
- Miles Bridges (Hornets)
- Troy Brown (Bulls)
- Wendell Carter Jr. (Magic): Extended
- Donte DiVincenzo (Bucks)
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks): Extended
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder): Extended
- Aaron Holiday (Wizards)
- Kevin Huerter (Hawks): Extended
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies): Extended
- Kevin Knox (Knicks)
- Josh Okogie (Timberwolves)
- Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets): Extended
- Collin Sexton (Cavaliers)
- Landry Shamet (Suns): Extended
- Anfernee Simons (Trail Blazers)
- Lonnie Walker (Spurs)
- Robert Williams (Celtics): Extended
- Trae Young (Hawks): Extended
The following players were selected in the first round of the 2018 draft along with the players listed above. However, they aren’t eligible for rookie scale extensions this year for the reasons noted:
- Jacob Evans: Waived by Knicks in 2020.
- Chandler Hutchison: Waived by Spurs in 2021.
- Dzanan Musa: Waived by Pistons in 2020.
- Jerome Robinson: Fourth-year option declined by Wizards in 2020.
- Zhaire Smith: Waived by Pistons in 2020.
- Omari Spellman: Fourth-year option declined by Knicks in 2020.
- Moritz Wagner: Fourth-year option declined by Wizards in 2020.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Some obvious no brainer decisions in there, but some could be interesting this offseason.
Kevin Knox, for example. Will the Knicks continue to bury him or will someone else realize that he is still just 21 years old and has a ton of potential? I think he would become a very good pro player on a team like Oklahoma City. Something like
Thunder get
Kevin Knox
Knicks get
Theo Maledon
#36 pick from MIN in the 2021 draft
Knicks get a PG prospect to replace Ntikilina along with a good 2nd round pick. Thunder reunite Knox with SGA and maybe reinvigorates his career.
Knox would be a salary filler in a trade so that I keep the available cap space in free agency versus using space in a trade.
This is a very minor deal to fill two bench spots for the Knicks instead of one. Cap space is not even important here since the costs are basically the same and both the Thunder and Knicks would have more than $50MM in space next year. And with all the cap space they have, Knox is not that vital as filler. His number is only $5.8 MM. It wouldn’t move the needle that much.
I don’t see where the thunder get anything out of this trade but fleeced.
Apparently you don’t see a 21 year old former lottery pick that got buried in a bad situation then. But if you think you can get Damian Lillard for Maledon and a 2nd round pick, then you are correct this was a major fleecing.
It won’t make any difference, the Thunder will remain in the lottery for years to come. How can a team draft 3 MVP’s in a row and lose all of them in less than 10 years with practically nothing to show for it?
Rockets will still suck longer
The thing is that Maledon is a starter & Knox is a perennial DNP… that trade would work for me if you send Knox & a first or two for Maledon… then you have something of a nice trade there, right?
Why would the Thunder give away Theo Maledon just to get another second round pick that may turn out to be nothing? Maledon is a rotation player already for them. Thunder might give them one of their 2nd rounders if they wanna take a chance on Knox but they aren’t giving up a young rotation player.
Knox had chances. Maledon has done better with his. Why would the extra pick go with him? Knox is the one buried.
SGA climbed over him at Kentucky, I doubt he would be helpful.
2016 nba draft is much deeper than 2018
Brown
Murray
Simmons
VanVleet
Siakam
Ingram
….
Ayton and Sexton will both get the max come FA