Zags in the NBA who are eligible for a contract extension

As the Boston Celtics were crowned NBA champions Monday night, with Adam Silver handing the Finals MVP trophy to Jaylen Brown and team owner Wyc Grousbeck holding the Larry O’Brien, the rest of the league got to work on the 2024-25 season.

Courtesy of a collective bargaining agreement in 2023, teams can start negotiating contracts with their free agents the day after the season ends. Previously those negotiations had to wait until June 30, and while deals can’t be officially signed until July 6, it’s likely most of the league’s significant free agents will have already verbally agreed to a contract by then. The added wrinkle allows for general managers and owners to have a chance to negotiate with their own players before any other team can.

Some superstars could hit the open market — LeBron James, Paul George, Klay Thompson — but it’s also time for several teams to navigate the rookie-scale extension market for the 2021 draft class. That includes former Gonzaga men’s basketball standouts Jalen Suggs (picked fifth overall by the Orlando Magic) and Corey Kispert (picked 15th overall by the Washington Wizards). Both showed great improvements in year three as pros and are expected to make eight figures annually.

Another important face of that historic 2020-21 Bulldogs team, Andrew Nembhard, could see a significant pay raise following his first playoff run with the Indiana Pacers. 

Let’s take a deeper look at the contract situations for each former Gonzaga star as the 2024 NBA offseason is officially underway.

JALEN SUGGS

Suggs took considerable strides as an improved jump shooter and as an elite on-ball defender in his third NBA season. The 6-foot-5 guard put up a career-best 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 39.7% from 3-point range — two years after shooting 21.4% as a rookie. Suggs’ knack for the ball defensively earned him NBA All-Defensive second team honors and votes for the defensive player of the year and most improved player awards. 

Suggs figures to be a major piece in Orlando’s future success, though it remains to be seen how contract negotiations will go for both sides. The Magic also have to extend Franz Wagner, who could earn a Desmond Bane-type rookie max extension from the front office this summer. Even with considerable cap flexibility, it’s possible Suggs’ extension is less than $20 million annually, according to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.

Orlando exceeded expectations with its young nucleus, so regardless of money, expect ownership to secure the team’s future this offseason with deals for both Wagner and Suggs.

COREY KISPERT

The Wizards believed in Deni Avdija’s potential enough to extend him last offseason, and it certainly paid off as the 6-foot-9 forward had a career year across the board. That should bode well for Kispert during his contract negotiations, as the Edmonds native diversified his offensive game to include some strong counters to how opponents defend his elite 3-point marksmanship.

Kispert put up 13.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 48.6% from the floor and 38.3% from deep. His 3-point percentage went down from his second season, though he attempted more 2-pointers and shot a career-best 64.3% from inside the arc.

With Washington expected to have around $50 million in cap space, it’s reasonable to expect Kispert to get an extension of around $11-13 million annually for three or four years in length, according to Bleacher Report.

ANDREW NEMBHARD

Nembhard outperformed expectations for a second-year player in his first postseason run. Two years after signing the most lucrative deal for a second-round pick in NBA history, the Canadian point guard could get much richer after helping the Pacers reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Nembhard averaged 14.9 points and 5.5 assists while posting a 65.4% true shooting percentage mark across 17 playoff games.

While Nembhard has earned a pay raise, it’s unclear how negotiations will go with Indiana’s front office. According to Marc Stein, Nembhard and the Pacers are “widely expected” to come to terms on a contract this offseason. Should the team decline his 2025-26 option, Nembhard would be eligible for a four-year deal worth around $78 million total. 

Conversely, the Pacers can make the 24-year-old a restricted free agent next summer if they offer him the qualifying offer and decline his team option. As of now, Nembhard is set to make $2 million in the 2024-25 season based on the four-year, $8.6 million deal he signed with Indiana after being drafted 31st overall in 2022.

Worth noting is that Nembhard shares representation with Pascal Siakam, who is nearing a long-term contract extension with the Pacers according to reports.