We’re one day away from the start of the NBA’s 2024/25 regular season, making Monday the last day of the 2024 offseason. Today serves as the deadline for a number of contract- and roster-related decisions around the league. Here are the most important ones:
Rookie Scale Extensions
A total of 24 players entered the offseason eligible for rookie scale extensions.
Four of those players – Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner – have already signed new deals, and a fifth (Moses Moody) has agreed to an extension that will be officially completed today.
That leaves the following 19 players eligible to sign rookie scale extensions on Monday:
- Santi Aldama (Grizzlies)
- Chris Duarte (Bulls)
- Josh Giddey (Bulls)
- Jalen Green (Rockets)
- Quentin Grimes (Mavericks)
- Bones Hyland (Clippers)
- Isaiah Jackson (Pacers)
- Jalen Johnson (Hawks)
- Corey Kispert (Wizards)
- Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors)
- Tre Mann (Hornets)
- Davion Mitchell (Raptors)
- Trey Murphy (Pelicans)
- Alperen Sengun (Rockets)
- Day’Ron Sharpe (Nets)
- Jaden Springer (Celtics)
- Jalen Suggs (Magic)
- Cam Thomas (Nets)
- Ziaire Williams (Nets)
The majority of these guys won’t sign new deals until the 2025 offseason, when they’re eligible for restricted free agency. But it would be a surprise if at least a couple more players from this list don’t finalize rookie scale extensions today.
Giddey, Green, Johnson, Kuminga, Murphy, Sengun, and Suggs are among the notable names in this group, but finding a price point that works for them and their respective teams may be a challenge. Some of the role players on this list who are willing to settle for more modest deals might also agree to terms today — Grimes is said to be a prime candidate for a new deal, for instance.
The deadline for rookie scale extensions is at 5:00 pm Central time.
Certain Veteran Contract Extensions
A veteran player who signed his current contract at least two years ago (or three years ago if it was a five-year deal) is eligible to sign an extension. That means many veterans around the NBA are eligible to sign contract extensions today, but that number will significantly drop as of tomorrow.
Once the regular season begins, only veterans in the final year of their contracts can sign extensions — a player who has multiple years remaining is no longer extension-eligible until the following offseason.
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Let’s use the Hawks as an example. Trae Young, Clint Capela, Larry Nance Jr., and Garrison Mathews are all eligible for veteran extensions right now, but Capela, Nance, and Mathews are on expiring deals, whereas Young is not. That means Capela, Nance, and Mathews will be able to sign extensions anytime between now and June 30, 2025, but Young’s eligibility window will close after Monday and won’t reopen until next July.
An extension-eligible veteran who has a player option for 2025/26 could still sign a new deal later in the ’24/25 league year, but he’d have to eliminate that option to do so. Picking up the option would make him ineligible to complete an extension between Tuesday and the start of the ’25/26 league year, since it would turn his contract into a multiyear deal, not an expiring one.
With the help of information from Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link), here are the 24 players who have a Monday deadline to sign a veteran extension if they want to lock in a new deal before next July:
- Deandre Ayton (Trail Blazers)
- Mikal Bridges (Knicks)
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Kevin Durant (Suns)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Daniel Gafford (Mavericks)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Kevin Huerter (Kings)
- Maxi Kleber (Mavericks)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
- Cody Martin (Hornets)
- CJ McCollum (Pelicans)
- Jusuf Nurkic (Suns)
- Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets)
- Norman Powell (Clippers)
- Duncan Robinson (Heat)
- Mitchell Robinson (Knicks)
- Terry Rozier (Heat)
- Collin Sexton (Jazz)
- Anfernee Simons (Trail Blazers)
- Marcus Smart (Grizzlies)
- Dean Wade (Cavaliers)
- Robert Williams (Trail Blazers)
- Trae Young (Hawks)
A few of these players who are prime candidates for extensions aren’t expected to sign this year because they would qualify for more years and more money if they wait until next offseason.
That group includes Bridges, who continues to face extend-and-trade limitations due to his recent move to the Knicks, and Fox, who would become eligible for a super-max (Designated Veteran) extension if he makes an All-NBA team in 2025. It also includes Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander, who have already met the performance criteria for super-max deals but won’t have enough years of service to sign them until after the 2024/25 season.
The deadline for veteran extensions for players on non-expiring contracts is at 10:59 pm CT tonight.
Regular Season Rosters
Nearly every NBA team finalized its roster cuts on Saturday for financial reasons, as we explained over the weekend. However, today is the official deadline to reduce offseason rosters to the regular season limit of 15 players on standard contracts (plus three on two-way contracts).
While there will could very well be some additional roster shuffling today as teams tweak their back-end roster spots or fill two-way openings, only one team – the Timberwolves – absolutely has to make a move, as we detailed on Sunday. Minnesota’s transaction appears likely to involve Keita Bates-Diop, though that’s not set in stone yet.
That roster move is due by 4:00 pm CT.
The final day of the offseason is also the last day for teams to convert Exhibit 10 contracts into two-way deals, but there are no candidates left after Kai Jones, Quincy Olivari, Liam Robbins, Yuki Kawamura, Mac McClung, Jamison Battle, Riley Minix, Tyrese Martin, E.J. Liddell, and Jazian Gortman were all converted on either Friday or Saturday.
The only player still on an Exhibit 10 deal is Bulls guard Talen Horton-Tucker, and he has too many years of NBA service to qualify for a two-way. The expectation is that Horton-Tucker will make Chicago’s standard opening night roster, meaning his Exhibit 10 contract will turn into a one-year, non-guaranteed deal and will begin counting against the salary cap.
Finally, Monday is the last day for a free agent to be signed-and-traded during the 2024/25 league year. However, there have been no indications that any sign-and-trades are in the works.