The 2020 Draft class had until 6 p.m. on Monday to work out a rookie scale contract extension with their current team or hit restricted free agency next summer. A handful of deals were signed with the league year began on July 1, mostly the obvious max extensions, but the rest of the negotiations dragged to the last week, bringing the total to 14 players who inked new deals. They range from 4 years, $30 million all the way up to 5 years, $206 million (with the chance to become $260 million), but all of the players involved got long-term security, while the teams signing them ensured they won’t have to negotiate with the market next summer.
There were a number players that were candidates for an extension that didn’t work one out, headlined by Immanuel Quickley, Patrick Williams, and Obi Toppin, and those players will look to find the deals they want on the restricted market.
Here are the 14 contract extensions that got done, with the Edwards, Ball, and Haliburton deals all including All-NBA escalators that could become $260 million deals — bonus structure comes via Bobby Marks of ESPN.
Anthony Edwards: 5 years, $206 million
LaMelo Ball: 5 years, $206 million
Tyrese Haliburton: 5 years, $206 million
Desmond Bane: 5 years, $197 million (+$8.6 million in unlikely bonuses)
Devin Vassell: 5 years, $135 million (+$11 million in unlikely bonuses)
Jaden McDaniels: 5 years, $131 million (+$5 million unlikely bonuses)
Onyeka Okongwu: 4 years, $62 million
Isaiah Stewart: 4 years, $60 million (+$4 million in unlikely bonuses)
Deni Avdija: 4 years, $55 million
Josh Green: 3 years, $41 million
Cole Anthony: 3 years, $39 million
Aaron Nesmith: 3 years, $33 million
Zeke Nnaji: 4 years, $32 million
Payton Pritchard- 4 years, $30 million
The max deals were unsurprising as the top three all have All-Star appearances to their name, while Desmond Bane has become a high-level starter with All-Star potential in Memphis. Devin Vassell and Jaden McDaniels got nine-figure deals thanks to their solid play thus far and in hopes from their teams that they tap into their full potential on the wing. From there you have some deals that caught people by surprise, like Isaiah Stewart’s deal that came very early on, along with more recent signings of Deni Avdija and Aaron Nesmith. The contract that stood out most in terms of team value was Onyeka Okongwu, as 4 years and $62 million was not what he was expected to fetch, but the Hawks intriguing backup center prioritized getting that long-term security over hoping he’ll pop even more this year and seeing what the market had in store for him.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-contract-extensions-2020-class-14-signed-deadline/
