The NBA's new collective bargaining agreement favors extensions over free agency. If the team and the player want to continue their relationship, they might as well get a deal done early. The Oct.
21 deadline for two types of extensions—2021 rookie-scale players (for the first-round selections) and veterans with more than one year remaining on their contracts—is coming up. While vets on expiring deals have until the end of June to extend, the rest have just under two weeks to complete their deals. B/R has tracked negotiations and resulting deals dating back to March , August and September .
The following is a list of final predictions for the players still extension-eligible before the looming deadline. Very few teams project to have significant cap room next offseason. Outside of the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, few will have the spending power to issue significant contracts to free agents (or offer sheets to restricted players).
Generally speaking, teams have leverage throughout this negotiating period. Even so, some will pay the most they possibly can to the players they believe in, like the Detroit Pistons issuing Cade Cunningham a max extension. The Boston Celtics took care of Jayson Tatum.
The market does not always drive the price. But for players who have been extension-eligible since early July and whose prospective deals are still pending, negotiations are likely nuanced, complex and influenced by who might be offering more in July (an issue when the ma.
