Ex-NBA Defensive Player of the Year lands staggering extension

The Memphis Grizzlies are quickly putting to rest any doubts over the future of Jaren Jackson Jr.

Jackson has agreed to a massive five-year, $240 million max extension, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Monday. The deal constitutes a renegotiation of Jackson’s current deal with the team, buying out his 2025-26 contract year and tacking on another four seasons (including a player option for the final season in 2029-30).

The 25-year-old big man Jackson has been with the Grizzlies for his entire NBA career and has blossomed into a real difference-maker, especially on the defensive end. He has made two All-Star teams and won a Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2023. Jackson also led the NBA in blocks twice and averaged a robust 22.5 points per game on 48.8 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three last season.

That said, a $48 million average annual value is pretty staggering for Jackson. He is a bit undersized for a big man at 6-foot-10 and has an underwhelming a career mark of 5.5 rebounds per game. On top of that, Jackson does not create a whole lot of offense for himself and is not really a playmaker at the center position either.

But Memphis is banking big on Jackson’s unique 3-and-D skillset for a center. They already traded away another homegrown mainstay in Desmond Bane to an East team earlier this month, and now they are pooling a lot of financial resources into Jackson’s continued development with them.

With Jackson’s future now resolved, the greater question for the Grizzlies now becomes the status of Ja Morant. The two-time All-Star Morant is still signed through 2028 but is eligible to sign a longer-term extension of his own this offseason as well. However, Morant has faced rumors of a possible trade out of Memphis in recent months.