4:08pm: Suggs’ extension with the Magic is official, according to a press release issued by the team (Twitter link).
The $150.5MM deal is fully guaranteed, with no options, according to NBA reporter Jake Fischer and The Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede (Twitter links).
3:37pm: The Magic have agreed to sign guard Jalen Suggs to a five-year rookie scale extension worth $150.5MM, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
According to Charania (via Twitter), Suggs’ agent Darren Matsubara and team officials held a series of meetings in Orlando leading up to Monday’s extension deadline in order to finalize the terms of the deal.
Suggs’ NBA career got off to a bit of a slow start after he was selected fifth overall in the 2021 draft, as he battled injuries and struggled with his shot during his first two seasons. However, he enjoyed an impressive breakout year in 2023/24, averaging a career-high 12.6 points per game with a .471/.397/.756 shooting line and earning a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team. He also showed up on Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year ballots.
With Markelle Fultz no longer in the point guard picture in Orlando, Suggs will likely be given more offensive responsibilities in his fourth NBA season and is poised to improve upon his career averages of 11.5 PPG and 3.2 APG while continuing to play lock-down defense on the other side of the ball.
As we wrote multiple times earlier in the offseason, Suggs’ camp likely viewed the five-year, $131MM extension Jaden McDaniels signed last fall as a point of reference for the Magic guard’s new deal. Like Suggs, McDaniels was considered one of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders and showed off an improved three-point shot in his third season before signing his second contract.
However, Suggs has a bigger offensive role than the Timberwolves forward and was able to secure an annual salary exceeding $30MM on his extension (assuming that $150.5MM total isn’t being inflated by incentives) compared to $26.2MM per year for McDaniels.
Suggs is the second core Magic player to sign a lucrative rookie scale extension this offseason, joining teammate Franz Wagner, who got a five-year, maximum-salary contract. Paolo Banchero is the next man up — he’ll become eligible for his own rookie scale extension in 2025.
Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter Jr. also signed long-term veteran extensions with Orlando this offseason and are each under contract through at least 2028.
Seems like a more reasonable deal… if one could ever consider 30M a year for B level talent “reasonable”. He’s at most the third option on a championship team, but that’s the going rate these days. Especially with younger players and these first extensions
Imo this deal’s grade hinges a lot on his potential playmaking abilities. A lot of ppl have focused on whether his outside shot will remain consistent, but unless he can become their full time pg, this seems a bit much.
If he can become a better distributor, however, this looks more reasonable given how versatile the rest of his game is.
It’s a good thing he is the third option on his current team then.
How you don’t even bring up his defense, which is elite, is beyond me.
If he ends up as the third option on a championship team who plays elite defense and continues to develop as a shooter, this will be a bargain toward the end of the contract. Look at how much OG got paid even with his longer injury history. And unlike OG, he has at least a bit of upside as a playmaker.
You get 30M, you get 30M …. everybody gets 30M.
30 mil for a guy that will never be an allstar.
If he were going to be an All-Star he’d be getting $43-45M on his rookie extension.