Wendell Carter Jr. has signed a three-year, $58.7MM contract extension with the Magic, Shams Charania of ESPN tweets. The Magic confirmed the signing in a press release.
Carter is entering his third year of a four-year, $50MM contract that was front-loaded. The new deal will begin in 2026 and will keep him under contract through the 2028/29 season.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Carter will make approximately $18.1MM in 2026/27, $19.6MM in 2027/28 and $21MM in 2028/29 (Twitter link).
It’s the most money Carter could have received for a three-year extension — his 2025/26 salary is below the estimated average salary, so he was eligible for up to 140% of the average. Given the rising salary cap, Carter’s salary is a reasonable cost for a starting center.
The Magic now have both of their top big men under long-term deals. Franz Wagner signed a five-year, maximum-salary extension in July. By signing the extension at this time, Carter will be ineligible to be traded this season due to extend-and-trade rules.
This is Carter’s seventh NBA season, but he’s still just 25. He has averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 points in 27.6 minutes through 315 regular-season games. Carter has battled a variety of injuries throughout his career — he’s never appeared in more than 62 games in a season.
Carter played 55 times last season (48 starts), averaging 11.0 points and 6.9 rebounds in 25.6 minutes. He also made his playoff debut earlier this year, averaging 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in 26.4 minutes over seven games.
Carter underwent surgery on his left hand after the postseason. The preventive procedure involved inserting a plate at the site of a fracture on Carter’s hand. He suffered the fracture in early November and had it surgically repaired at the time. He also missed some games last season due to right knee inflammation.
As our extension tracker shows, Carter’s contract is essentially identical to those signed in recent months by Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard and Clippers center Ivica Zubac, though Carter’s will begin a year later.
Nice
Knicks shoulda traded for him instead of Kitty KAT
Magic dont need Randle, NYK didnt have enough picks to get Carter
This guy would be a really good PF. Just isn’t a C
Both their top big men? Interesting. What’s Banchero? I like this for Orlando. I like watching them and think they’re a force going forward.
Is the hockey guy john Gabriel back as general manager. Terrible contract. 11 points per game
Crazy. Used to have to kinda good to get a cap killing contract.
What’s the thinking in signing 3 young centers (Bitadze, Moritz, and Carter) to long-term contracts, all at once? Meanwhile, where’s the $35-$40M that Suggs is due starting next year?
And the 3 young C’s can contribute ONLY at center given their skill sets. One of them will be getting paid a lot of money to sit this year… unless Magic are about to move one of them.
I could see signing Carter to facilitate trading him, but his deal prevents any trade in the short-term.
Here’s a bet that Bitadze gets traded for some outside shooting before the deadline.
Carter’s was an extension so I think he stuck for a year
Suggs has no extension yet and he certainly will not be offered 35-40 M per. Maybe 27-28 M