The Orlando Magic have apparently agreed on an early contract extension with Wendell Carter Jr. The Big Man only came via trade from Chicago last season, but is set to become a long-term component of Magic’s future.
Wie Shams Charania (The Athletic) reports, the 22-year-old will be awarded a four-year $ 50 million contract that will come into effect in the summer of 2022 after his rookie contract. Apparently the full salary is guaranteed, options have not been agreed, according to Shams.
The center came into the league as the Chicago Bulls’ seventh pick in the 2018 draft, but had to contend with injury concerns in its first two years. Shortly before the 2021 trade deadline, the Bulls finally shipped it to Orlando as a package for Nikola Vucevic.
As a starter for Magic, he finished the 2021/22 season with 11.7 points and 8.8 rebounds on average in 22 missions. Carter Jr. sank 49.3 percent of his field throw attempts and 24.1 percent of downtown, both of which are very close to his career average.
The Magic are apparently planning with him as a long-term solution on the five. Carter Jr. is now together with Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz, who received a long-term contract extension last year, as well as rookies Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner for the future in Orlando.
Carter Jr. is the sixth player from the 2018 draft class to sign an early contract extension this summer – including Luka Doncic with the Dallas Mavericks and Trae Young with the Atlanta Hawks. Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Collin Sexton or Jaren Jackson Jr. are among the prominent names that have not yet been extended. If no rookie extension is negotiated by the deadline on October 18, they will become Restricted Free Agents in the summer of 2022.
– .
