The Magic will decline to exercise their 2023/24 rookie scale option on guard R.J. Hampton, multiple sources tell Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required). The third-year combo guard will now be an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
Hampton, 21, was the No. 24 pick of the 2020 draft. He was technically drafted by the Bucks, but was traded to the Nuggets shortly thereafter. During his rookie season, he was sent to Orlando along with Gary Harris as part of the Aaron Gordon trade.
In 94 games (22.4 MPG) with the Magic, Hampton has averaged 8.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 2.5 APG on .402/.343/.649 shooting. His declined option was worth $4,220,057, which means the Magic will be prohibited from offering him a first-year salary worth more than that in free agency next summer if he finishes the season on the roster.
Price also reports that the Magic have exercised their 2023/24 options on guards Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony, as well as forwards Chuma Okeke and Franz Wagner. The team confirmed the news (via Twitter).
Suggs, the No. 4 pick of last year’s draft, will earn a guaranteed $7,252,080 in his third season, while Wagner, the No. 8 pick last year, will earn $5,508,720. Anthony (No. 15 in 2020) and Okeke (No. 16 in 2020) will make guaranteed salaries of $5,539,771 and $5,266,713 for their fourth seasons, respectively.
Wagner, Suggs, Anthony and Okeke have all been rotation players for the Magic when healthy, so it was expected that their options would be picked up. Hampton, however, is only averaging 11.0 minutes per night in four games this season despite several injuries to the backcourt (including Suggs and Anthony) after averaging 21.9 minutes last season.
The deadline for ’23/24 rookie scale team options is October 31. The full list of those decisions can be found right here.
Magic reward dudes that never play with big contracts, so I’m shocked he wasn’t reupped for 4/50M.
Hey guys, I watched him briefly down here in NZ playing for the Breakers. I thought he was supposed to be the next big thing? Was he just not good enough? Be really grateful if someone shone some light on him for me…
He was supposed to be the next big time guard from Texas (along the lines of guys like Smart, Clarkson, Grimes) & he has basically lived up to that. He went 1st rd, has earned (fringe) nba rotation mins & steadily improved during his young career. I don’t think he was ever expected to be a DRose or Kyrie type. But he’s gonna have a good career & make a bunch of $, no worries there
It’s very likely that RJ might have requested that they not pick it up so that he could find a team that might have a clearer path for him.
With Fultz, Cole & Suggs + the needed shooting/stability of Gary Harris (and for this season Ross), his future minutes were looking very murky.
That’s before even considering that the Magic might keep exploring these big lineups, chewing up even more possibility of playing time for him.
+ the Magic are adding 2 first round pick rookies this summer, so his future on this roster was not ideal
Pretty shocking to me that they extended Okeke but not RJ. It’s definitely a good thing for RJ to be able to hit unrestricted free agency sooner than later tho
The body type of Okeke is comparable to Draymond, better than those guys
It’s very likely that RJ might have requested that they not pick it up so that he could find a team that might have a clearer path for him.
With Fultz, Cole & Suggs + the needed shooting/stability of Gary Harris (and for this season Ross), his future minutes were looking very murky.
That’s before even considering that the Magic might keep exploring these big lineups, chewing up even more possibility of playing time for him.
+ the Magic are adding 2 first round pick rookies this summer, so his future on this roster was not ideal