Hoops Rumors Originals

The NBA’s annual deadline for rookie scale contract extensions passed on Monday, officially bringing the extension period for 2020 first-round picks to an end. In total, 14 players eligible for rookie scale extensions signed new contracts this year, blowing away the previous record (11), which was set in 2021 and matched in 2022.

We’ve seen a noticeable uptick in rookie scale extensions in recent years, with at least 10 such deals completed in each of the last four offseasons. Prior to 2020, the last time as many as 10 rookie scale extensions were signed in a single league year was back in 2006, when players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were signing their second NBA contracts.

Here’s a breakdown of the 14 rookie scale extensions signed before this year’s deadline, sorted by total value. In cases where we haven’t yet seen the official contract terms for the extension, we’re basing our figures on the latest reports and will update these numbers as necessary. These deals will go into effect beginning in 2024/25.

Note: Projected values for maximum-salary extensions are based on a 10% annual salary cap increase in 2024. If the cap doesn’t increase by that much, those max extensions won’t be worth as much, since they’re based on a percentage of the cap.

• LaMelo Ball (Hornets): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $216,953,495. Projected value can increase to $260,344,194 if Ball meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
• Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $216,953,495. Projected value can increase to $260,344,194 if Edwards meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
• Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $216,953,495. Projected value can increase to $260,344,194 if Haliburton meets Rose Rule criteria. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
• Desmond Bane (Grizzlies): Five years, $197,230,450 (story). Includes $8,669,550 in incentives. Includes 15% trade kicker. Starts in 2024/25.
• Devin Vassell (Spurs): Five years, $135,000,000 (story). Includes $11,000,000 in incentives. Starts in 2024/25.
• Jaden McDaniels (Timberwolves): Five years, $131,000,000 (story). Includes $5,000,000 in incentives. Starts in 2024/25.
• Onyeka Okongwu (Hawks): Four years, $62,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
• Isaiah Stewart (Pistons): Four years, $60,000,000 (story). Includes $4,000,000 in incentives. Includes fourth-year team option. Starts in 2024/25.
• Deni Avdija (Wizards): Four years, $55,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
• Josh Green (Mavericks): Three years, $41,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
• Cole Anthony (Magic): Three years, $39,100,000 (story). Includes third-year team option. Starts in 2024/25.
• Aaron Nesmith (Pacers): Three years, $33,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.
• Zeke Nnaji (Nuggets): Four years, $32,000,001 (story). Includes fourth-year player option. Starts in 2024/25.
• Payton Pritchard (Celtics): Four years, $30,000,000 (story). Starts in 2024/25.

A few of these extensions were no-brainers — there was never any doubt that Edwards was going to get maximum-salary offer from the Timberwolves as early as possible, for instance.

After Edwards, Ball, Haliburton, and Bane agreed to terms early in the offseason, a total of 10 more players eventually reached deals of their own, with the contracts for Vassell and McDaniels occupying the next tier below the first four mega-deals. The Spurs sharpshooter and Timberwolves forward will have annual salaries in the range of $26-27MM, which are far above the mid-level but still well below the projected maximum.

The other eight rookie scale extensions signed this year range in average annual value from $7.5MM to $15.5MM, with a handful hovering right around the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. There were a few surprises in the bunch — I would’ve viewed Avdija, Nesmith, and Nnaji as unlikely extension candidates, but their teams decided to lock them up rather than take their chances in restricted free agency a year from now.

In the case of both Nnaji and Pritchard, their team’s cap situation going forward may have played a part. The Nuggets and Celtics could both be above the second tax apron in 2024/25, which would place extreme limitations on their ability to bring in new role players via trade or free agency — that’s probably one reason why they opted to extend an in-house role player now.

Of these deals, Green’s was one that came in lower than I anticipated. Given his three-and-D potential, I thought the Mavericks might have to go up to at least $15-17MM per year over four seasons to lock him up and figured he’d want to exceed Grant Williams‘ four-year, $53MM deal with Dallas. Green’s annual salary ($13.67MM) will come in a little higher than Williams’, but I didn’t expect the Mavs to be able to get that deal done with such a relatively modest overall commitment.

For the first time ever, more than half of the players who were eligible for rookie scale extensions signed them. With 14 players signing extensions, that left 13 players who were eligible for a new deal and didn’t get one.

Here’s that list of those players, who are now eligible to become restricted free agents during the 2024 offseason, assuming they finish their current contracts:

• Precious Achiuwa (Raptors)
• Saddiq Bey (Hawks)
  
• Malachi Flynn (Raptors)
• Killian Hayes (Pistons)
• Kira Lewis (Pelicans)
• Tyrese Maxey (Sixers)
• Chuma Okeke (Magic)
  • Note: Okeke was a 2019 first-round pick but didn’t sign his rookie scale contract until 2020.
• Isaac Okoro (Cavaliers)
• Aleksej Pokusevski (Thunder)
• Immanuel Quickley (Knicks)
• Obi Toppin (Pacers)
• Patrick Williams (Bulls)
• James Wiseman (Pistons)

Maxey is the most noteworthy extension candidate not to sign a new deal, but that didn’t come as a surprise — we’ve known since June that the Sixers didn’t intend to extend him this offseason, preferring to maximize their 2024 cap room. Maxey will have a cap hold of approximately $13MM as a restricted free agent next summer, rather than a first-year extension salary that almost certainly would’ve been $20MM+ higher than that.

Quickley, Bey, and Williams are among the other notable extension candidates who didn’t get new deals and could be targets for lucrative offer sheets in July of 2024. Achiuwa, Okoro, Pokusevski, and Toppin are a few of the players who could set themselves up for nice paydays next offseason if they take a step forward in 2023/24.

The rest of these players in this group – Flynn, Hayes, Lewis, Okeke, and Wiseman – never looked like serious extension candidates and will need to make their case this season that they’re worthy of qualifying offers in 2024 free agency.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that there were four players selected in the first round of the 2020 draft who weren’t eligible at all for rookie scale extensions entering this offseason, for various reasons. Those players are as follows:

• Udoka Azubuike: Fourth-year option declined by Jazz in 2022.
• Leandro Bolmaro: Signed rookie scale contract in 2021; waived by Jazz in 2023.
• R.J. Hampton: Fourth-year option declined by Magic in 2022.
• Jalen Smith: Third-year option declined by Suns in 2021.

NBA teams have until Monday night (Oct. 23) to officially set their rosters for the 2023/24 regular season. However, a majority of NBA teams will likely have their rosters ready to go on Saturday, with far more roster cuts expected today and tomorrow than on Sunday or Monday.

Why is that? Well, releasing a player on Saturday will ensure he clears waivers on Monday, before the regular season gets underway.

Players who are cut during the season are also paid for each day they spend on waivers, so a player who hits waivers on Sunday and doesn’t clear until the first day of the season on Tuesday would technically earn one day’s worth of pay, even if his contract isn’t guaranteed. A player released on Monday would spend two regular season days on waivers.

[RELATED: 2023/24 NBA Roster Counts]

For players with partial or full guarantees, spending the first day or two of the regular season on waivers doesn’t really matter, since they’re getting their full 2023/24 salary (or their partial guarantees) no matter when they’re released. But if a team waits until Monday to cut a player with a non-guaranteed salary, that team will be on the hook for two days’ worth of dead money for the player.

Two days’ worth of dead money won’t exactly break the bank — it would range from about $13-37K for a minimum-salary player. Still, most teams already know which players are in and which are out, so there’s no need to take the decision down to the wire on Monday. They’ll make those cuts on Friday or Saturday and will avoid adding extra cap charges to their books for ’23/24. Even that small amount of savings could be important for teams who are right around the tax line or up against a hard cap.

While many teams will make their cuts on Saturday, a handful of clubs can afford to wait an extra day or two if they want to, since they’ll be waiving (or trading) players who have full or partial guarantees.

The Wizards, for instance, have 17 players on fully guaranteed contracts and will need to reduce that number to 15. Waiting until Sunday or Monday to make their cuts won’t affect their cap outlook at all, since all 17 of those players will receive their full-season salaries either way.

Additionally, teams whose final roster moves won’t involve placing a player on waivers can afford to wait until Monday to finalize those moves.

For example, the Spurs currently have 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts, a pair on two-way contracts, and Charles Bediako on an Exhibit 10 deal. While we don’t know exactly what the team’s plan is, San Antonio could simply convert Bediako to a two-way contract on Monday in order to set its roster for the regular season, with no further cuts required.

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As we outlined in detail last month, the salary-matching rules that apply this season to a club whose team salary is over either tax apron are only temporary.

Rather than immediately implement all the new restrictions that will affect over-the-apron teams in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement at once, the NBA is gradually rolling them out. Most of those new rules will take effect once the 2023/24 season is over.

That slow rollout of the new trade rules is working out well for many of the teams with the league’s highest payrolls in ’23/24. Several deals completed this offseason, including major recent moves like the Bucks‘ acquisition of Damian Lillard and the Celtics‘ trade for Jrue Holiday, have only be possible because the new restrictions on apron teams have yet to be enacted.

Here’s a breakdown of the upcoming rule changes that would have impacted certain deals in recent months:

Aggregation

The biggest trade-related change coming next offseason for teams over the second tax apron relates to salary aggregation — the act of combing the outgoing cap hits of two or more players in order to match an incoming player’s salary.

This is how the Bucks matched Lillard’s incoming cap charge, which exceeds $45MM. Milwaukee aggregated Holiday ($36.86MM) and Grayson Allen ($8.93MM) in order to meet the league’s salary-matching rules. The Celtics took a similar approach when they landed Holiday, aggregating Malcolm Brogdon ($22.5MM) and Robert Williams ($11.57MM) to ensure they’d included enough outgoing salary.

Neither of those structures would have been possible next offseason, when a team whose salary is over the second apron will be prohibited from aggregating salaries in a trade. If that had been the case this summer, Milwaukee wouldn’t have been able to acquire Lillard without trading Giannis Antetokounmpo. In other words, that deal wouldn’t have been possible.

Salary matching

While teams over the second tax apron won’t be able to aggregate player salaries in a trade beginning next summer, teams over either tax apron will face even more restrictive salary-matching rules.

They’ll be unable to take back more salary than they send out in a trade.

This offseason, teams over either tax apron have been permitted to take back up to 110% of their outgoing salary. For example, when the Celtics acquired Holiday, the combined salaries of Brogdon and Williams ($34.07MM) fell a little short of Holiday’s $36.86MM cap hit. But the Celtics were permitted to take back up to 110% of their outgoing figure, which was more than enough to cover Holiday’s salary.

That won’t be possible next year. In fact, if this salary-matching rule and the new rule preventing second-apron teams from aggregating salaries had been effect this year, there literally would have been no way for the Celtics to acquire Holiday, whose salary is higher than anyone else’s on Boston’s roster.

Even if they had sent out Kristaps Porzingis, who was formerly their highest-paid player, the C’s only would’ve been able to take back up to $36,016,200, the amount of Porzingis’ cap hit — that wouldn’t have been enough for Holiday. And Boston wouldn’t have been able to aggregate another player’s salary with Porzingis’ in order to reach Holiday’s figure.

Cash

Teams over the second tax apron are, by definition, not shy about spending their money, but beginning next summer, they won’t be permitted to add cash as a sweetener to complete a deal.

So the $5.7MM in cash that San Antonio received from the Suns in the Cameron Payne trade in July, which will cover most of Payne’s $6.5MM salary for 2023/24? Phoenix was allowed to send that money this year, but it won’t be an option for any team over the second apron once the ’23/24 season ends.

This rule won’t put as many constraints on teams above the second apron as the first two we discussed, but it will take one more tool away from those clubs when they try to negotiate trades.

Trade exceptions

When a team creates a trade exception in one deal, it can use that exception in a subsequent deal in order to acquire a player whose salary fits in the exception without sending out another outgoing salary.

Beginning after the 2023/24 regular season ends though, teams over either tax apron won’t be allowed to use a trade exception that they generated in a prior year. For the purposes of this rule, the “prior year” is defined as the end of one regular season to the end of the following regular season.

That means that a team whose salary is over the first or second apron at the end of the 2023/24 season will essentially lose any trade exception generated in a prior deal. A team could still generate a trade exception in June and then use it to accommodate a separate move in July, but a trade exception created at February’s deadline would be off the table in the offseason.

Who would’ve been affected by this rule if it were in effect this summer? Well, the Clippers acquired Kenyon Martin Jr. from Houston using a traded player exception that they generated in February when they sent Reggie Jackson to Charlotte. That $2.13MM TPE was just big enough to absorb Martin’s $1.93MM salary.

If all of the new CBA’s trade rules had been implemented this offseason, the Clippers would’ve lost access to that Jackson TPE and would have had to send out a player making at least $1.93MM in order to acquire Martin.