As expected, the Sixers and restricted free agent guard Tyrese Maxey have reached an agreement in principle on a five-year, maximum-salary contract, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
As our breakdown of the maximum salaries for 2024-25 shows, Maxey’s new deal will start at $35,147,000 (25% of this year’s salary cap) and will be worth a total of $203,852,600. It’ll be fully guaranteed, with no option in year five, Wojnarowski adds.
Maxey initially became eligible for a rookie scale extension last July, but word broke just over a year ago that the Sixers wouldn’t be pursuing a new deal with the rising star at that time in an effort to maximize their cap room for 2024.
By letting Maxey reach free agency instead of extending him early, Philadelphia is carrying a cap hold worth just $13M for the guard this summer instead of having him on the books for $35M+, which helped clear the path for the team to land Paul George on a maximum-salary contract.
After Maxey agreed to put off his payday by a year, there was always an expectation that the 76ers would take care of him in restricted free agency, but he made that decision even easier by leveling up as the club’s lead guard in 2024-25 following the early-season trade of James Harden.
Maxey averaged 25.9 points, 6.2 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 37.5 minutes per game across 70 outings (all starts) this past season, posting a shooting line of .450/.373/.868. The performance earned him the 2024 Most Improved Player award.
The No. 2 free agent on our top-50 list, Maxey is the third player in the 2024 FA class to agree to a maximum-salary contract this summer, joining his new teammate George and Pacers forward Pascal Siakam. Lakers star LeBron James could join that group in the coming days, though the terms of his next deal remain up in the air as L.A. considers its roster options.
If he had made an All-NBA team this season, Maxey would’ve qualified for a contract that started at up to 30% of this year’s cap instead of 25%, increasing his potential earnings to $244.6M. While he did earn All-NBA votes, the 23-year-old finished a little outside of the top 15, missing out on meeting the Rose Rule criteria.
The 76ers will use up all their cap room before going over the cap to officially re-sign Maxey using his Bird rights.
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