It’s that time of the year for the National Basketball Association. The entrance of the new rookies into their respective rosters. A rookie is a player who is playing his first season of basketball in the NBA. They are given designated contracts with their own set of rules, during rookie signing after the NBA Draft. At the end of the season, the best performer out of the draft class is given an award entitled ‘Rookie of The Year’.
Rookies are entirely crucial to the success of an NBA franchise. They are a fresh set of skills and faces the NBA has yet to see. While some rookies may have dominated in college and high school, the same cannot be said for the NBA and vice versa. Smart drafting by scouts and GMs is of utmost importance considering that they dictate the future of the franchise. The front office also must do whatever they can monetarily to keep the players appeased.
Rookies can receive a max extension of up to 5 years
Sometimes a rookie performs to the level of a superstar in the short period of just his 2 first seasons. A prime example would be Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks when he went out and averaged 21 points, 6 assists and almost 8 rebounds a game in his rookie year. He won Rookie of The Year with no competition and followed that conquest up with a 29-point, 8 assists, and 9 rebound season in the next season.
This had the Mavs scrambling to give their future European star a maximum rookie extension. Herein lie the complications and stipulations of the rookie max extension. The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that “The max extension rule allows teams to re-sign designated players to maximum five-year contracts worth up to 35 percent of the salary cap with eight percent escalation in each subsequent year.”
The word to note here is “designated”, the NBA holds a certain amount of players who based on their performances become designated rookies eligible for the max extension. A few examples of designated rookies for the 2023 offseason would be, LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, and Tyrese Maxey.
These players recently completed their rookie contract, i.e. 2 seasons worth of NBA play, and are now eligible for the 5-year rookie max extension which will amount to quite an impressive figure. These rooks and plenty of others have balled out for their teams and their respective franchises are looking to reward them as well as lock them up to their team lest they lose a generational talent due to stinginess.