NBA contract extensions: Alperen Sengun, Jalen Johnson and Jalen Suggs receive big deals and an unprecedented pact

The NBA’s rookie extension deadline has passed, and seven 2021 first-round picks agreed to sub-max deals on Monday. These young players are Alperen Sengun, Jalen Johnson, Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs, Trey Murphy, Moses Moody and Corey Kispert, and when you add in the maximum contracts that Scottie Barnes, Evan Mobley, Franz Wagner and Cade Cunningham already have, we become’ There are up to 11 total rookie extensions for the 2021 class.

That means 19 first-round picks from 2021 still need to be signed. Most notable among them? Cam Thomas, who has tremendous numbers on a rebuilding Nets team, and Jonathan Kuminga, who couldn’t come to terms with the Warriors. Any 2021 first-round pick who hasn’t re-signed by Monday at 6 p.m. is now scheduled to become a restricted free agent next summer, but let’s focus first on the players who have extended.

Jalen Green is getting a unique deal

CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter has confirmed that Jalen Green will remain in Houston on a three-year, $106 million contract with a player option after the second season. At his best, Green looks like he’s destined for stardom. He averaged 29.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists while hitting 42.2% of his shots from distance last season, which began over 15 games on Feb. 29. However, Green didn’t have a max contract as his overall numbers aren’t nearly as nice. In Green’s final nine games of 2023-24, he averaged 16.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 27% from deep. While there were times when it looked like he had improved tremendously – particularly in March – his stats were strikingly similar to those from 2022-23, with a slight increase in defensive rebounds.

The structure of Green’s deal is unprecedented and reflects the gap between his earnings and his production. The Rockets have committed to him, but not in the same way the Raptors have committed to Barnes or the Pistons have committed to Cunningham. Green is betting on himself by accepting a shorter deal, but not in the same way as the Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga – more on him later – reportedly. If Green becomes a more efficient scorer and rounds out his game, he could put himself in position to earn a max contract after the 2026-27 season. If not, then Houston would have at least avoided a long-term investment based on the assumption that he would improve.

Alperen Sengun comes closer to the maximum than anyone else

Just under the bell: Alperen Sengun will be a rocket in the long run as he has agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $185 million, according to ESPN. The deal is surprising given Houston’s reported plan to use cap space next summer. Sengun would have had a relatively low cap hit of $16.2 million in restricted free agency. Instead, he will now receive a new cap number that reflects his salary, eliminating a significant amount of potential cap space for the Rockets.

Of course, the Rockets decided it was worth giving up that cap space because Sengun left quite a bit of money on the table to sign this deal. His maximum value was about $40 million higher – about $225 million guaranteed – and that amount could have been even higher if he made an All-NBA team and earned Rose Rule eligibility would have deserved. Sengun was an All-Star candidate last season and Houston’s offensive engine. The Rockets ultimately concluded that getting him at a discount made more sense than waiting for the cap hit and paying him closer to market next summer.

Jalen Johnson will be a building block in Atlanta

Like Sengun, Jalen Johnson was a candidate for Most Improved Player last season but earned slightly less in this deal. As first reported by Chris Haynes, Johnson will receive $150 million over five years from the Hawks. The deal represents a compromise for both sides. Johnson will have a chance to put up big numbers on a Hawks team that cut Dejounte Murray this offseason. He’s now the clear No. 2 offensive lineman, and with a breakout season he could have secured a max deal next summer.

By locking him up now, the Hawks are ensuring they don’t have to pay him quite as much. However, Johnson does receive some protection. He struggled with injuries last season, only appearing in 56 games and was not a full-time rotation player before that. If he had regressed in his fourth season, he would have lost a lot of money. Both sides agree to a compromise of $150 million.

Murphy gets his money

Murphy has agreed to a four-year, $112 million contract extension with the Pelicans, his agents told Marc Stein of The Stein Line on Monday. According to ESPN, there are no options in the deal.

Last season, Murphy got off to a slow start while recovering from a knee injury, but averaged 18.1 points (on 66.1% shooting!), 6.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 33 over his final 24 games. 9 minutes. Murphy made 41.7% of his 3-point attempts on 8.8 attempts per game during that span.

If Murphy builds on this, this contract will be a massive home run for the Pelicans. He’s a 6-foot-8 forward with a sky-high release who shoots deep threes with ease, and there aren’t many players on the planet who fit that description. Going forward, however, the question is how much – and when – New Orleans can reasonably expect to see an increase in his usage and minutes.

Murphy was the Pelicans’ sixth man when they were healthy last season and he seems poised to take on a more prominent role, but after a summer in which they traded for Dejounte Murray rather than Brandon Ingram, there isn’t Make sure there is room for him to spread his wings. Murphy had an 18.2% usage rate last season.

Murphy is expected to miss the start of the 2024-25 season due to a hamstring strain suffered in training camp.

“Obviously it hurts me a lot to start the season again,” Murphy told reporters earlier this month. “And just trying to do everything I can in the summer to prepare for a season and then to have something like that really sucks.” But I’m just looking at it from perspective. It could be much worse. The good thing is that it’s an NBA season – I’ll be there most of the time.

Suggs stops

According to ESPN, Jalen Suggs will remain with the Magic for five years and will make $150.5 million. Suggs, the No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft, had a breakout season for Orlando last season. His defense has been his selling point from the moment he came to the NBA, but last season his offense finally took a significant step in that direction. Despite not being a primary ballplayer, Suggs made a career-best 39.7% of his 3-pointers on 5.1 attempts per game.

Ideally, Suggs would take on a larger ball-handling role over time. Even if he doesn’t, that shooting is enough to justify a deal like this. Last but not least, Suggs was perhaps the best 3-and-D player in basketball last season. He was a second-team All-Defense player who made nearly 40% of his three-pointers, and in a league where both of those skills are increasingly emphasized, he’s an extremely valuable role player.

Orlando is now mostly slowed down in the long run. They have now signed Suggs, Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr. and Jonathan Isaac to significant extensions this offseason. They signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency, and a long-term deal for Paolo Banchero is also on the horizon next summer. The magic has imprisoned their young core and will only grow it from here.

Warriors extend Moody, Kuminga not extended

Moody, 22, is staying with Golden State on a contract extension worth $39 million over three years, his agent told ESPN. This is a team-friendly offer – it starts a little below mid-exceptional level – but it’s not hard to see why it might have been attractive to Moody. He was productive in his minutes during the first three years of his career, but failed to cement his place as a nightly rotation player under coach Steve Kerr. This season, with Golden State at its deepest ever, the situation could be similar. However, Moody was impressive in the preseason. He seems to have gotten stronger and, more importantly, he knocked down shots on the move with ease.

“He’s playing great,” Kerr told reporters last week after a win against the Los Angeles Lakers in which Moody scored 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting in 19 minutes. “He’s gotten so much better in so many ways. We’ve always loved his character and his work ethic, but I think that’s the most confidence I think he played with. And he’s going to play a big role for us, but.” A lot of other guys also sit in the coaching room every day and ask themselves, “How do we play against all these guys?” Because they all deserve to play.

In theory, the Warriors still have time to complete a deal with Kuminga. However, according to ESPN and The Athletic, that won’t happen. Golden State had offered him a contract worth about $30 million per year, according to The Athletic, but wasn’t willing to go beyond that, so Kuminga decided to bet on him becoming a star.

Kuminga, also 22, was selected No. 7 overall in the 2021 draft, seven spots ahead of Moody. He had something of a breakthrough last season, but he didn’t prove to Golden State’s coaching staff that he could play third without the bigs on the floor in front. This makes him a difficult addition alongside Draymond Green unless Green is playing center. Kerr’s starting lineup on opening night remains a mystery.

Washington keeps its sniper

Corey Kispert, a teammate of Suggs at Gonzaga, has agreed to a new deal with the Wizards worth $54 million over four years, according to Marc Stein. Kispert has made his money as one of the NBA’s best shooters over the past few seasons, hitting 38.8% of his attempts since joining the Wizards in 2021. Washington is currently in the midst of an aggressive rebuild that has cost them several key veterans this offseason, including Deni Avdija and Tyus Jones. That puts Kispert in position to put up numbers for the Wizards this season, and now they have a firm hold on him without risking higher demands after a potential breakout campaign.