Four NBA free agents – Naz Reid, Kyrie Irving, Myles Turner, and Julius Randle – have signed contracts worth at least $100MM since the start of July. However, the most lucrative deals completed since the new league year began weren’t free agent deals at all — they were contract extensions.
Extensions, of course, don’t involve adding a new player to the roster. By extending a contract, a team ensures that a current player will remain locked up for multiple years to come. Although a contract extension may not change the club’s short-term outlook on the court, it can have a major impact on that team’s salary cap situation for the next several seasons.
Rookie scale extensions are one form of contract extension. Former first-round picks who are entering the fourth and final year of their rookie deals are eligible to sign those up until the day before the 2025/26 regular season begins. Rookie scale extensions have become more common than ever in recent years — there were 11 signed in both 2021 and 2022, followed by a record 14 in 2023 and 11 more in 2024.
[RELATED: Players Eligible For Rookie Scale Extensions In 2025 Offseason]
While they used to be rarer than rookie scale extensions, veteran extensions are happening more frequently these days too. The league’s 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement expanded the rules for eligibility and created some additional incentives for star players to sign new deals before they reach free agency, and the 2023 CBA has further incentivized veteran extensions. During the 2024/25 league year, a whopping 27 veteran extensions were signed, up from 17 in ’23/24.
The deadline for a veteran extension for a player who isn’t in the final year of his current contract is the day before the regular season tips off. However, a player eligible for a veteran extension who is on an expiring deal can sign a new contract throughout the league year, all the way up to June 30, the day before he becomes a free agent.
Listed below are the players who have finalized contract extensions so far in 2025/26. This list, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features” on our desktop site (or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu), will be kept up to date throughout the ’25/26 league year, with more extension details added as we learn them.
Note: Projected values for maximum-salary extensions are based on a 7% cap increase for 2026/27 and 10% annual increases in subsequent years. Since those contracts are based on a percentage of the cap, their official values will depend on exactly where the cap ends up in future league years.
Rookie scale contract extensions:
- Paolo Banchero (Magic): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $239,934,400. Projected value can increase to $287,921,280 if Banchero makes an All-NBA team or is named MVP or Defensive Player of the Year. Includes fifth-year player option. Starts in 2026/27.
- Jalen Williams (Thunder): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $239,934,400. Projected value can increase to $249,531,776 if Williams makes the All-NBA third team; $259,129,152 if Williams makes the All-NBA second team; or $287,921,280 if Williams makes the All-NBA first team or is named MVP or Defensive Player of the Year. Starts in 2026/27.
- Chet Holmgren (Thunder): Five years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $239,934,400. Starts in 2026/27.
- Jabari Smith Jr. (Rockets): Five years, $122,000,000 (story). Starts in 2026/27.
Veteran contract extensions:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder): Four years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $285,405,792 (super-max). Includes fourth-year player option. Starts in 2027/28.
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies): Four years, $205,000,000 (story). Includes renegotiation (2025/26 salary increased from $23,413,395 to $35,000,000). $216,586,605 in total new money. Extension starts in 2026/27.
- Devin Booker (Suns): Two years, maximum salary (story). Projected value of $145,760,888. Includes second-year player option. Starts in 2028/29.
- Jakob Poeltl (Raptors): Three years, $84,084,000 (story). Exercised 2026/27 player option ($19.5MM base salary; $500K in incentives) as part of agreement. Third year is partially guaranteed for $5MM (partial guarantee can increased based on performance criteria). Includes trade kicker (5%). Starts in 2027/28.
- Herbert Jones (Pelicans): Three years, $67,580,892 (story). Includes third-year player option. Starts in 2027/28.
- Daniel Gafford (Mavericks): Three years, $54,380,289 (story). Starts in 2026/27.
