Jalen Johnson and the Hawks are not yet trending toward a rookie scale contract extension, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post.
Johnson is one of a handful of prominent players from the 2021 draft who has not signed an extension. In a Front Office column earlier this month, our Luke Adams ranked Johnson No. 1 among a group of nine players who are legitimate candidates for a rookie scale extension.
Another source informed Stein that Johnson has stood out during the Hawks’ training camp and the preseason. Johnson, the No. 20 pick in 2021, averaged 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his breakout 2023/24 campaign while appearing in 56 games (52 starts).
Rookie scale extensions must be reached by Monday at 6 p.m. ET. Otherwise, those players will be restricted free agents next summer.
Here’s more from Stein:
- As he reported over the weekend, Quentin Grimes is a prime candidate for an extension, according to Stein, who says the Mavericks and Grimes, who was acquired from the Pistons during the offseason, are discussing a three-year deal.
- Trey Murphy III and the Pelicans are also in active extension negotiations ahead of Monday’s deadline, league sources tell Stein. Murphy will miss the early portion of this season with a hamstring injury but has been highly productive when healthy. The five-year, $135MM extension signed in October 2023 by San Antonio’s Devin Vassell is a potential comparable for Murphy, Stein notes.
- Reiterating a tweet from Saturday, Stein says the Magic’ Jalen Suggs is seeking a deal with an average annual value of at least $30MM.
Luke Adams , remember that convo we had 2 weeks ago about recalibrating our expectations for size of extensions by 10%?
How about 20% ! lol
If the Magic pay 30 million per year they might as well stop trying to win a championship
Suggs will get closer to $35M than $30M. Watch.
Guaranteeing to never make the finals or possibly advancing if you give Johnson, Giddey or a Suggs $30million. Paying them for hope.
If Giddey improves his shot, he’s definitely worth the 30mil. I fully realize that seems like a ton of money for him, but that’s the landscape in today’s NBA, and it is pay them or lose them. If Giddey’s shot is broken, then he’s still a very valuable player as he makes everyone on the court better offensively with his passing, his ability to break down the defense, lead the break, and his ability to get others open looks using his high basketball IQ and excellent court vision.
Also, I think Johnson is worth every bit of that potential extension as well. I think him and Trae Yoing compliment eachother extremely well, and this young man is just scratching the surface of what he can ultimately become. He’s only steadily improved each year he’s been in the league and with more experience. I feel like he’s going to continue evolving his game, and he will continue in improving on his numbers and overall impact on the floor this season as well.
The Hawks have to resign Johnson, they likely won’t ever get fair value for him in a trade, and he’s exactly the type of player you want to invest in.
Suggs, I’m not nearly as sold on, but with another solid showing this season he could change my mind.
Johnson and Giddey are so good, I think I might start my own NBA franchise and sign them immediately. Time will tell….