There is no better day than payday. At the close of the 2024-25 season, the league’s annual deadline for rookie expansion was reached and some absolutely ridiculous money was handed out to players the casual basketball fan has never heard of.
In total, seven players signed contracts totaling just under $800 million. It’s good to stay young in this era of the NBA Cashing in on new TV deal through sports,
The NBA salary cap for the 2024-2025 season is set at $140.588 million. The luxury tax starts at $178.132 million, and the dreaded second apron with all its ultra-punitive mechanisms starts at $188.931 million. The expectation is that the limit will increase by about 10 percent each year, but we don’t know that for sure yet. Teams can go over the salary cap to sign their own players, but not to sign new players in free agency. It’s important to look at these days through the lens of a rising salary cap.
It felt like teams had a complete stranglehold on players this year as almost no one had cap space available in the summer of 2025. Brooklyn Nets There is projected to be maximum cap space next summer after this round of deals washington wizards And the San Antonio Spurs are the only other teams with real cap space, According to analyst Keith Smith,
Despite the circumstances of next summer, seven young players coming out of their standard four-year rookie contracts hit the jackpot on Monday. Let’s grade each extension from both a player and team perspective.
Jalen Green, Rockets agree to three-year, $106 million deal
Green was the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 nba draftBut so far it has struggled to live up to the hype. He has been mostly an inefficient volume scorer so far in his career, showing some bad habits under former coach Stephen Silas. Things finally looked up for Green in the second half of the third season after an injury to teammate Alpern Sengun. Green was absolutely electric last March, averaging 27.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game on 49.2 percent shooting from the field and 40.8 percent shooting from three-point range on 9.5 attempts per game from downtown.
Those numbers are much better than Green’s career averages, and they didn’t hold up after Sengun returned. March is historically a month when NBA teams mail it out before the playoffs. The Rockets were still motivated to make a deal for several reasons: Green still has long-term potential, and he’s exactly the type of player the team could try to create cap space to sign next summer. He will turn 23 in February.
This is a unique deal where Green gets a player option for a third season. This is a tremendous deal for Green, where he locks up his money and can potentially opt out of the contract after two years to get an even bigger payday. From the Rockets’ standpoint I don’t like it that much. There are a lot of interesting young players in Houston, and I wouldn’t put Green at the top of that list due to his lack of all-around contribution and general ineffectiveness. This deal is a slam dunk for Green, but I don’t like it for Houston. Additionally, due to the length of this deal the Rockets will be able to trade him if needed.
rocket grade: C-
player grade:A+
Rockets, Alperen Sengun agree to five-year, $185 million extension
Sengun fully emerged as the Rockets’ leading man last season, averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and five assists per game as a 21-year-old. The 6’10 center is somewhat of a poor man’s Nikola Jokic: He lacks typical high-level athleticism and isn’t known for his defense on the inside, but he’s smart enough as a scorer and passer. You can legitimately run a crime through that higher position.
There will always be questions about whether you can win deep in the playoffs with a weak defensive center. Additionally, Seungun’s box score production is so excellent that it seemed he would get the maximum contract. this is the deal About $40 million less than Sengun’s maximum amountAs Houston took a big jump in wins last season – from 22 wins to 41 wins in its first season under head coach Ime Udoka – Sengun’s style of play showed that it could lead to winning basketball.
It feels like Sengun could have held out for more money, but it sure would have felt nice to lock up $185 million. Had he suffered a major injury this season, this money might never have been on the table again. The fact that Houston got him to sign for it is big business.
rocket grade: A
player grade:B
Jalen Johnson, Hawks agree to five-year, $150 million deal
Johnson was a highly touted prospect out of high school who slipped to 20th in the draft after a poor year at Duke. I always believed in his talent.And that came to the fore in a big way last year in his third season. Johnson looked like the Hawks’ second-best player, averaging 16 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He shot 51.1 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from three (3.6 attempts per game) on low-ish volume.
The 6’8, 220-pound Johnson is an elite athlete who plays above the rim on both ends of the floor. He is a terror in transition, and has a knack for getting himself blocks, steals or rebounds repeatedly during breaks. This is exactly the type of player you want around Trae Young. It’s a little scary that Johnson’s first two years were a complete disaster, so he’s signing this deal on the strength of a 56-game season where he battled injuries last year. The guy who turns 23 in December still has a lot of potential and is a perfect fit for Atlanta’s long-term vision. This is a big deal for both sides.
hawks grade: A
player grade: A
Pelicans, Trey Murphy III agree to four-year, $112 million extension
Murphy has been caught in the Pelicans’ loaded depth chart to start his career, but there can be no questioning both his talent and his long-term fit with the organization. Stuck behind Brandon Ingram (New Orleans spent the entire summer trying to trade) and lockdown defender Herb Jones, Murphy is a dead-eyed shooter with impressive athleticism whose skill set matches up well with Pelicans superstar Zion Williamson.
At 6’8, Murphy has one of the purest shooting strokes in the league. He’s connected on 39.2 percent threes on 5.7 attempts per game in his career, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see those numbers continue to rise. Murphy is very strong defensively. The Jones-Murphy-Williamson trio looks amazing for the Pelicans on paper. Murphy hasn’t been very durable up to this point: he only played 57 games last year, and has been out since the beginning of the season with a hamstring injury. It seems like a fair deal for both parties, but I believe this will be a team-friendly contract over time. Murphy has the talent to beat this contract easily.
pelican grade: A
player grade: B+
Jalen Suggs, Magic agree to $150.5 million over five years
Suggs may be the best young defensive guard in the NBA. The former No. 5 overall pick blossomed in his third season with the Magic last year, earning second-team All-Defense honors as Orlando made a big jump in the standings. The Magic will be led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner moving forward, but they view Suggs as a key third player.
That’s a lot of money for a guard who isn’t good offensively. Suggs’ ball handling ability is still weak and he is not a natural lead creator off the dribble. His jump shoot improved significantly last season, going from a 32 percent three-point shooter to 39 percent (5.1 attempts per game) on good volume. At first this struck me as a C+/B- deal for Orlando, but that’s just me talking about it myself. Ultimately, I think the Magic may need a more dynamic lead guard to help them take the next step, but this team has won with defense up to this point, and Suggs’ defense is elite. There’s no doubt that this is a big win for Suggs personally, as he had an underwhelming first two years in the league.
magic grade:B
player grade:A+
Warriors, Moses Moody agree to terms on three-year, $39 million deal
Steve Kerr has kept Moody on the bench for most of his first three years in the NBA, which is why this extension seems a little curious. The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say that the Warriors kept Moody’s playing time short so they could sign him to a cheap extension before completely ruling him out this season. That’s probably not true, but it could still be a very team-friendly deal for Golden State if Moody develops The way I always thought he could,
Moody is a long-armed defender who lacks elite athleticism, but is a very good player across the boards. He’s a career 36 percent three-point shooter who has some skills as a one-on-one scorer. Is this the year Kerr finally lands her role? The Warriors added a lot of depth in the offseason to replace Klay Thompson, so I’m not entirely convinced. Still, I’ve always believed in Moody, so I think there are some real upsides for Golden State here. According to Moody’s, locking up a life-changing amount of money at $39 million is great considering he hasn’t done much in the league yet.
warrior class: A
player grade: B+
Corey Kispert, Wizards agree to deal worth $54 million over four years
Kispert is an elite shooter. Drafted 15th overall after four years at Gonzaga, the 6’6 wing turns 26 in March, and he hasn’t had as much progression compared to his peers on this list. That’s OK: He’s shooting a career-high 38.8 percent on good volume, and looks more comfortable in Washington. Every team needs a knockdown floor spacer like this, but Kispert is so limited athletically and so bad defensively that locking up your money for him now is a wise move. This is a straight shooting specialist, so $54 million seems like a good deal for both sides.
magicians grade: A
player grade: A