НБА-гийн чөлөөт агентлагийн цонх хаалттай ч гэрээ сунгах хугацаа ид өрнөж байна

Free agency might be dormant, but extension season is burning.

Because of the NBA’s current governing rules, players are far less likely to wait until their contracts expire to sign new ones. Teams these days are often without cap space. Ones that have room usually prefer to fill it via trades, with large, unwanted contracts that come with sweeteners, such as juicy draft picks or enticing young players. Entering free agency and inking a plush deal with a different franchise is not so easy.

A player’s best chance to get paid is often by his own team. So, why not get a deal done early?

Young up-and-comers extending between their third and fourth seasons (known as rookie-scale extensions) have always been common. But veteran extensions, ones for older players, have become far more prevalent in recent seasons.

So, let’s discuss the five most interesting players eligible for veteran extensions this summer.

The list will not include Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kawhi Leonard. Both can (or will) receive deals from their new teams, but those contracts are inevitable. There is no suspense and thus no intrigue.

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokić is eligible for an extension this offseason. The Denver Nuggets will plead their case for him to sign it. The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported this week that Jokić is “signaling a desire to remain” with the only franchise for which he’s played. But the circumstances surrounding him aren’t so dramatic. Jokić will either take the extension or he won’t. There is no negotiation to be done, no fallout to be had. He won’t be on the list.

Other big names can receive extensions this summer but still have multiple seasons remaining on their contracts, which removes urgency from their situations. Those players include the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards (who has three years left on his current deal), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Darius Garland (two) and four of the Indiana Pacers’ starters — Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Ivica Zubac and Andrew Nembhard, who all have two years until free agency.

None of them makes the list.

But five others do. Here are the most interesting extension-eligible veterans this summer:

Donovan Mitchell

The Cleveland Cavaliers have issues to address, ones about a roster that got swept out of the Eastern Conference finals and ones about long-term payroll. Both begin with a decision from Mitchell, the leader of their squad.

Mitchell can turn down a $53.8 million player option and become a free agent after this season. Or, if he chooses, he can take the money now, commit to Cleveland and keep this group together. A max extension would kick in for 2027-28 and pay him a projected $272 million over four years.

The Cavaliers would love to keep him. They flipped Garland for James Harden midseason to get healthier in the short term while also smoothing over some of their financial issues. Harden just declined his player option and could re-sign on a two-year deal that earns him more guaranteed money and a lower salary in 2026-27. But the Cavs need Mitchell, who has only praised the organization, to return to the fray, too.

If he were to turn down the extension, Cleveland would be in a bind.

It couldn’t risk losing Mitchell for nothing next summer. A few months ago, I reported, via league sources, that if Mitchell were to turn down the extension, then the Cavaliers would discuss the possibility of trading him, as any intelligent team would. But it’s also possible circumstances have changed since then.

There is a new variable here. Its name is LeBron James.

James will not re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, he announced this week. The Cavaliers are contenders to bring him back once again. He may be 41, but add him to a team with Mitchell, Harden, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, and you give yourself a chance to win the conference. And surely, James isn’t choosing Cleveland if it even hints at moving on from its mid-prime, perennial All-Star.

So Mitchell could extend. And if he chooses not to, the Cavaliers have justification to handle the situation differently now. The two sides could play out the season together anyway. But whether the effects of the decision ripple this summer or next, Mitchell’s future will affect the East’s balance of power.

Anthony Davis

Yes, Davis also plays in the East, but his desire to re-up with the Washington Wizards won’t affect the winner of the conference. His tale involves the other side of the country and the same character: James.

James and Davis won a title together with the Lakers. Now, James would reportedly appreciate it if one of his wooers, the Golden State Warriors, traded for his former running mate. The situation outlined has notes of the Paul George-Kawhi Leonard saga from 2019, only this one includes more geriatric players.

Davis can become a free agent after this season, though he also has a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28. Unlike with Mitchell, it’s no guarantee he bats away the option.

He is still an All-Star-caliber performer when he plays, but the issue is Davis rarely steps on the court anymore. He checked into only 20 games last season. He has crested above 56 games in just one of the last six years. By the time his new contract kicks in, he’ll be 34.

Oft-injured players don’t tend to get healthier with age.

But Davis wants this extension. One of the many reasons the Dallas Mavericks traded him last season was because they were weary of handing it to him. The Wizards just doled out $213 million over four years for Trae Young, their other midseason acquisition this past winter. Their roster is filled with young players who are yet to receive paydays. But by 2028, the year after Davis’ player option, Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George will be on bigger deals. Then the expenses roll in.

They could justify adding a couple of years onto Davis’ deal if he were willing to sacrifice average annual value for security. The Wizards could even survive if he picked up the player option, then extended on a far lesser number. But they are the ones with the leverage, not Davis. The Warriors, if they were motivated enough to flip Jimmy Butler and draft picks for him, would present a different situation.

Golden State immediately handed Butler a max extension after trading for him a couple of seasons ago. It could take a similar, though maybe not as lucrative, approach with Davis, as long as his hypothetical entry also locked in James. Adding fuel to the fire, The Athletic’s John Hollinger reported Tuesday that the Warriors’ two-year, $40 million agreement with big man Kristaps Porziņģis is technically an extension, not a re-signing, which makes Porziņģis eligible to be traded immediately.

Karl-Anthony Towns

The New York Knicks have been through this process with Towns before. He was eligible for an extension just last summer, when there wasn’t much traction on a deal from either side — but there also wasn’t any pressing need to get a deal done, not with two seasons remaining on the six-time All-Star’s contract.

Today’s circumstances are different.

Next summer, Towns can decline a $61 million player option to hit free agency. He is mere weeks removed from helping the Knicks to their first championship in 53 years. For long stretches of the title run, he thrust the team on his back, carrying them sometimes as a scorer and sometimes as a precise facilitator, all while playing the greatest defense of his career.

The Knicks need Towns, but they are also in the same cap crunch that many champs experience.

Owner James Dolan said two weeks ago that the team would not go into the second apron this season. But even if the 2026-27 Knicks stay below that $221.7 million payroll threshold, the organization would be in danger of climbing above it next season and beyond.

A max extension would pay Towns more than $70 million in average annual value. Even if he took a reasonable discount, the Knicks could climb into uncharted territories, especially come the second year of his extension, the 2028-29 season, when Towns could make up to $65 million.

That’s when NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson can start a new contract, one that could compensate for the gargantuan discount he gave the Knicks the last time he was up for an extension. OG Anunoby can enter free agency in 2028, too. Josh Hart will be on a new deal by then.

The salaries for just the starting five alone (those four, plus Mikal Bridges) could guarantee the Knicks a place in second-apron land — and they make up just one-third of the roster. Each member of the first unit will be in his 30s by then. But at the same time, this group just destroyed everyone it faced in a playoff run, winning 15 of its final 16 postseason games.

The Knicks will want to keep their core together, but they also can’t afford to dole out long-term money willy-nilly, which is why their conversations with Towns this summer will be especially intriguing.

Lu Dort

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in a similar position to the Knicks. The theme of their offseason thus far is the effort to delay a trip over the second apron. OKC will need to go there eventually, but not yet.

It offloaded Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins for a bevy of second-rounders. It declined a team option on Isaiah Hartenstein and re-signed the starting center to a slightly cheaper, long-term deal, which is good business whether or not second-apron fears exist. As part of the process, it picked up a $17.7 million team option on Dort, the tank responsible for guarding the opponent’s top perimeter creator each night.

How the Thunder handle what’s next for Dort, who is eligible to receive up to $111 million over four years, will be a sign of their overall approach.

Oklahoma City’s payroll is bound to blow up in 2027-28, when two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is due a giant raise, a projected $60.6 million salary on the first season of a max contract. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams will each earn more than $44 million. That’s more than 85 percent of the 2027-28 salary cap going to three players, which means the Thunder have to be diligent about who receives the rest of that money.

Alex Caruso, possibly the most stifling defensive guard in basketball, is under contract for $21 million in 2027-28. But Dort isn’t the only defensive dynamo whose status for that season remains uncertain. Fourth-year guard Cason Wallace, a member of this past season’s all-defensive team, is eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer. Employing all three of those perimeter defenders is a luxury, one that could become too costly once Dort and Wallace move onto new contracts next season.

So, do the Thunder extend Dort? Do they choose Wallace over him? If they do, does Dort become a trade candidate? General manager Sam Presti does not normally allow important players to reach unrestricted free agency. Do they figure they are too talented and too young to give up either? What would that signal about the 32-year-old Caruso’s future?

Dort’s situation is bigger than just Dort’s situation.

Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges

On one hand, the Phoenix Suns cleansed their books of long-term money when they agreed to the trade that will bring Bridges to town. Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen are out. Bridges and his expiring contract are in. But the Suns’ financial future could change soon.

The acquisition of Bridges also arrives with a reality: Phoenix did not trade a 2033 first-round pick (along with two helpful role players) for him just to watch him walk in free agency next summer. Eventually, the Suns will have to pay Bridges. Soon, he will be eligible for an extension. And he’s not the only guy in Phoenix who could justify tacking a few more years onto his contract.

Brooks also becomes a free agent next summer. He is eligible for an extension now. He and Bridges make similar money — just short of $21 million and $23 million, respectively. And the Suns have reasons to retain both.

They exceeded expectations last season, winning 45 games and snagging the West’s final playoff spot. Brooks was an essential piece of their success. Meanwhile, the Bridges trade is a bet on the 28-year-old who just so happened to attend Michigan State, the alma mater of Suns owner Mat Ishbia and the same university whose products the Suns have disproportionately loaded up on over the past few years.

Brooks could add as much as $132 million over four years to his contract. Bridges is eligible to receive up to $143 million over four years. They are comparable perimeter players who will play off one another not just on the court. The more money the Suns are willing to pay Brooks, the more Bridges could justify asking for — and vice versa. Phoenix may have to choose one or the other. A starting salary for either could climb as high as the combined salaries of O’Neale and Allen, wiping out the space created by trading those two.

If the Suns hand expensive contracts to both, they would lock themselves into three, maybe four, bulky salaries for 2027-28. Devin Booker makes $61 million that season, and Jalen Green has a $36 million player option.