The Orlando Magic and star ahead Paolo Banchero have reached an settlement on a five-year most rookie contract extension that might be price as much as $287 million, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. The deal locks Banchero in because the face of the Magic for a half-decade and features a participant possibility for 2030-31. It is the primary rookie extension to incorporate such a clause since 2021 when Luka Dončić and Trae Young positioned the identical language of their contracts.
Banchero will accrue base earnings of $239 million over the lifetime of the contract, according to Charania, and his wage can attain the supermax degree if he makes an All-NBA crew or the All-Defensive crew, or if he wins the MVP or Defensive Participant of the 12 months awards subsequent season.
If not for the extension, Banchero would have hit the market subsequent offseason as a restricted free agent. The Magic picked up crew choices every of the final two years and had been initially set to pay Banchero $15.3 million subsequent season. The extension places him in line for an enormous pay increase to at the very least $47.8 million per yr.
Banchero, the No. 1 choose within the 2022 NBA Draft, was unbelievable in his third yr as a professional and posted profession highs in factors (25.9) and rebounds (7.5) per sport whereas averaging 4.8 assists. An prolonged absence resulting from a torn proper indirect muscle prevented him from making a second-straight All-Star crew, although, and price him 34 video games within the opening months of the season. And since he performed in fewer than 65 video games, Banchero was ineligible for All-NBA consideration.
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Regardless of the damage, Banchero paced the Magic in scoring, rebounds and assists in his age-22 season. He’s the centerpiece of a franchise again on the rise with consecutive 40-win seasons for the primary time since 2009-11. He was integral in Orlando reaching the playoffs for the second time in as a few years, as effectively. Orlando was the No. 7 seed within the East and misplaced within the first spherical to the Boston Celtics in 5 video games.
The Magic have been busy this offseason in locking up their core and inserting contributors across the unit of Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Like Banchero, the Magic have Wagner and Suggs below contract for the following 5 years. Additionally they traded for Desmond Bane, re-signed Moe Wagner and added Tyus Jones to gear up for what might be one other step up the Jap Convention ladder. The addition of Bane, a profession 41% shooter from 3-point vary, ought to deal with an enormous want for an Orlando crew that had one of many NBA‘s finest defenses however struggled mightily to shoot from the surface.
Banchero, 22, was the Rookie of the 12 months award in 2023 after he averaged 20 factors per sport and he made his All-Star debut the next season with an much more productive marketing campaign.
Banchero already has a 50-point effort on his résumé as he achieved that feat within the fourth sport of final season. He took his scoring to the following degree as a third-year standout, and of his six profession video games with at the very least 40 factors, all however two got here in the course of the Magic’s 41-win season.