The Memphis Grizzlies and star guard Ja Morant are in agreement on a five-year rookie scale extension worth the maximum salary, agent Jim Tanner tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal will go into effect when Morant’s rookie contract expires in 2023.
Morant’s extension will include Rose Rule language allowing him to earn a starting salary worth 30% of the 2023-24 cap instead of 25% if he makes an All-NBA team again next season.
Based on the NBA’s latest cap projection of $133M for the 2023-24 season, Morant’s deal would be worth $231.42M if he meets the Rose Rule criteria next season, or $192.85M if he doesn’t.
It’s the biggest contract in Grizzlies history, according to Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian, topping the $153M deal Mike Conley signed in 2016.
Morant, who will turn 23 in August, has improved in each of his three NBA seasons, earning his first All-Star and All-NBA nods in 2021-22 and winning the league’s Most Improved Player award.
The former second overall pick averaged a career-high 27.4 PPG to go along with 6.7 APG, 5.7 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 57 games (33.1 MPG). He also put up career-best shooting numbers of 49.3% from the floor and 34.4% on threes.
Morant is the first member of the 2019 draft class to reach an agreement on a rookie scale extension, and his new deal is one of several maximum-salary contract extensions agreed upon as the new NBA league year begins. Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker have reportedly agreed to super-max veteran extensions tonight as well.
The Rose Rule criteria requires a player to earn an All-NBA spot in the season before his rookie scale extension goes into effect to qualify for the 30% max, which is why Morant will have to make it again next year despite claiming a spot this spring.
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