Five players, $1.1 billion: NBA free agency kicks off with a bang
The NBA generated more basketball-related income than ever this past season, the total number coming up just short of $9bn.
Business is good. The first night of free agency underscored how good.
Nikola Jokić agreed to the biggest contract in NBA history, Bradley Beal agreed to a deal worth a quarter-billion dollars, and the money just kept flowing. Shortly after midnight Friday in the Eastern time zone, three more players – Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and Ja Morant – also agreed to huge-money extensions.
Towns and Booker agreed to four-year deals that will commence in 2024 and are worth at least $224m, their agent, Jessica Holtz of CAA, said. Morant will sign his first rookie extension, one that’ll be worth at least $193m and could reach the $230m range, according to Tandem Sports, which represents him.
Those five players – Jokić, Beal, Towns, Booker and Morant – had more than $1.1bn in money committed to them in their new deals, highlighting the moves made Thursday when the NBA’s annual free-agent negotiating window opened.
Jokić agreed to a supermax extension to remain with the Denver Nuggets, the two-time reigning MVP guaranteeing himself at least $264m over five seasons starting with the 2023-24 campaign. The final number may go up slightly depending on what the league’s salary cap is going into the ’23-24 season and if it exceeds current projections.
Beal will make $251m over the next five seasons after re-signing with Washington, one day after turning down $37m for this coming season from the team with whom he’s spent the entirety of his 10-year career.
Towns and Booker got their deals not long afterward, as did Morant. More big-money extensions are coming at some point, particularly rookie extensions –