Andrew Nembhard’s Pacers contract extension sets up another big payday in 2028

After a stellar postseason run that helped Indiana reach the Eastern Conference finals in May, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard has agreed to a three-year, $59 million contract extension, league sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. There are no options in the deal, sources said, which is a season shorter than the four-year, $70-plus million structure that Nembhard was eligible to sign.

That’s an interesting, if minor, departure from a broader trend in the NBA this offseason, as players and their agents have been more eager to secure guaranteed money than in years past, with many reluctant to risk the choppy waters of free agency — while not long ago, the prevailing wisdom suggested that a young, rising prospect should look to return to the open market as soon as possible and cash in again. Klay Thompson and Gary Trent Jr. mark two cautionary tales about not taking lucrative extensions. Meanwhile, the champion Celtics have extended four of their top seven rotation players — going back to Jrue Holiday’s spring payday — including Sam Hauser’s recent four-year, $45 million deal that conceptually could have outpaced the sharpshooter as a free agent next summer.

Nembhard, 24, had two years left on his rookie deal after the Pacers selected him No. 31 overall in 2022, but Indiana declined his club option for 2025-26, sources said, allowing Nembhard’s extension to kick in after the upcoming 2024-25 campaign. That mechanism effectively allows Nembhard to receive a nearly $16 million raise for the ’25-26 season while setting the third-year combo guard up for another big contract at the end of his extension in 2028, when Nembhard will be just 28 and theoretically entering his prime.

If all goes according to plan and Indiana continues to climb the Eastern hierarchy behind Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, Nembhard’s next deal could very well come with the only NBA franchise he knows. Nembhard was the Pacers’ third-best player during the playoffs, hitting game-winning plays and stepping up when Haliburton was injured. Nembhard also won’t have a shortage of suitors, should the Pacers’ construction prove too expensive or Nembhard eventually seeks his own shot at running a backcourt.

The Spurs will be a team to watch for Nembhard going forward, sources said, after San Antonio registered interest in Nembhard this offseason. Before bringing in Chris Paul to help organize the Spurs’ offense around Victor Wembanyama, sources said San Antonio had called several teams around the league to evaluate veteran guards who weren’t in their prime. Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland was another talented ball handler the Spurs called about, sources said, though Cleveland has so far rebuffed any incoming trade interest for Garland.

Paul, 39, joined San Antonio for just one year, and for the stabilizing presence the future Hall of Famer is sure to bring, he’s not the long-term pick-and-roll partner the Spurs want to pair with Wembanyama for the next decade. And while that role remains unspecified, playmakers from Trae Young — who had the Spurs on his wish list of next teams, sources said, had Young moved this summer — to Josh Giddey, who also had interest in joining San Antonio, sources said, before Oklahoma City traded Giddey to Chicago in exchange for Alex Caruso, will point to the Spurs as a desirable home alongside Wemby.

San Antonio selected 6-foot-6 UConn guard Stephon Castle with the No. 4 pick, and the Spurs had identified and targeted Castle with that selection for most of the pre-draft process, sources said. But Castle has already shown he can thrive in dual-guard backcourts, as he did for the two-time defending champion Huskies.