Some of the largest contracts issued in July won’t be to free agents but rookie-scale players entering the fourth year of their contracts. Only first-round picks sign rookie-scale contracts, like Ja Morant and Darius Garland, who seem destined to receive a sizable pay raises.

As Jordan Poole breaks out with the Golden State Warriors, can the team afford to give him an extension? What of the New Orleans Pelicans and injured star Zion Williamson, who has yet to play this season?

Teams aren’t obligated to give extensions. They can wait until the player hits restricted free agency the following summer, like Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns. Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, was eligible last summer, but he and the Suns couldn’t reach a deal.

Generally speaking, teams try to reach an extension with productive players. The 2019 draft class will be on the clock from July 1 until the day before the start of the 2021-22 regular season.

A standard extension can start as high as 25 percent of the 2022-23 salary cap. An early projection would be a cap of $128.1 million with a $32.0 million max—the actual figure of a max contract won’t be determined until roughly June 30, 2024, a day before the extension actually starts.

A rookie-scale extension can be as long as four additional years (five if the player receives the “designated” tag). The max can climb to 30 percent of the cap, but the player must qualify by one of three criteria. The first is earning NBA MVP in any of the three seasons before the contract starts. It can also trigger if the player is named Defensive Player of the Year or to an All-NBA Team— either in the season immediately before the start of the extension (in this case 2022-23) or the two previous years (2020-21 and 2021-22). None of the 2019 draft class reached those marks in 2020-21.

The answers may be complex, and each player has his own story and, with it, a price to negotiate. The following lists the 30 players drafted in the first round of the 2019 draft and their current situations heading into the extension summer:

Pick Player Current Team All-Star Notes
1 Zion Williamson New Orleans 1
2 Ja Morant Memphis 1
3 RJ Barrett New York 0
4 De’Andre Hunter Atlanta 0
5 Darius Garland Cleveland 1
6 Jarrett Culver Memphis 0 Option declined, ineligible
7 Coby White Chicago 0
8 Jaxson Hayes New Orleans 0
9 Rui Hachimura Washington 0
10 Cam Reddish New York 0
11 Cam Johnson Phoenix 0
12 PJ Washington Charlotte 0
13 Tyler Herro Miami 0
14 Romeo Langford San Antonio 0
15 Sekou Doumbouya N/A 0 Not currently in the league
16 Chuma Okeke Orlando 0 Waited a year to sign, eligible in 2023
17 Nickeil Alexander-Walker Utah 0
18 Goga Bitadze Indiana 0
19 Luka Samanic N/A 0 Not currently in the league
20 Matisse Thybulle Philadelphia 0
21 Brandon Clarke Memphis 0
22 Grant Williams Boston 0
23 Darius Bazley Oklahoma City 0
24 Ty Jerome Oklahoma City 0
25 Nassir Little Portland 0
26 Dylan Winder Dylan Windler 0
27 Mfiondu Kabengele N/A 0 Not currently in the league
28 Jordan Poole Golden State 0
29 Keldon Johnson San Antonio 0
30 Kevin Porter Jr. Houston 0


Notes

  • The Detroit Pistons traded Doumbouya to the Nets. Brooklyn dealt him to Houston, and the Rockets waived him.
  • The San Antonio Spurs waived Samanic.
  • The Clippers traded Mfiondu Kabengele to the Kings, who subsequently released him.
  • Okeke was nursing an injury, signing with the Magic one year later than his draft class. He’ll be extension-eligible July 2023.

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, @EricPincus.