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Magic agree on five-year max extension with franchise player
Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Magic star forward Paolo Banchero has agreed to a five-year maximum rookie scale contract extension that is worth as much as $288M, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

The contract will include a player option in the final year, the first time that’s happened in a rookie-scale maximum-salary extension since 2021, when Luka Doncic and Trae Young each received one.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan points out (X link), the extension is technically worth a projected $240M but it could rise another $48M if Banchero meets the Rose Rule performance criteria, which includes making an All-NBA team or winning the Most Valuable Player Award.

Banchero will now be signed through at least 2030, with a ’30/31 player option. The five-year extensions for Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs kick in this coming season and recently acquired Desmond Bane has a contract that runs through the 2028/29 season. That means that four members of the starting lineup are signed for at least the next four seasons.

Orlando’s decision to make Banchero the top pick of the 2022 draft was somewhat surprising at the time, but he has lived up to that billing. He was the Rookie of the Year in 2023 and an All-Star in 2024.

An early-season oblique injury marred Banchero’s third NBA season, but he still averaged 25.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in 46 starts. The 22-year-old has averaged 28 points per game in 12 postseason contests over the past two seasons.

Back in May, Banchero told Marc J. Spears of ESPN he wasn’t sure if he’d sign an extension but was hopeful it would come to fruition.

“I was in over my head when I signed my rookie (contract). So, I really haven’t thought much about that. … But it’s a blessing and hopefully all that stuff works out if I’m able to sign with the team and lock in my future,” he said. “That’s every young player’s goal coming into this league, establishing yourself early, get a second contract. So, when (the) time comes, I’m sure all that stuff we can figure out. I don’t know. They say more money, more problems. So, we’ll see what happens.”

This article first appeared on Hoops Rumors and was syndicated with permission.

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