Orlando Magic and Jalen Suggs agree to 5-year, $150.5 million rookie contract extension

ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic and fourth-year guard Jalen Suggs have agreed to a five-year, $150.5 million contract extension, according to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania on Monday.

The deal will keep Suggs, a crucial third of the Magic’s young core alongside Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, in Orlando long-term.

Suggs’ camp and the Magic had until 6:00 PM ET on Monday to agree on a deal. Had the two sides not reached a resolution, he would have become a restricted free agent next summer, allowing teams to court Suggs with offer sheets that Orlando could match, provided they made him a qualifying offer.

According to further reporting from Charania, Magic officials negotiated the deal with Suggs’ representative Darren Matsubara of Wasserman, meeting all day Monday to finalize the terms of the deal.

With the latest contract extension completed, the Magic have made long-term investments in Suggs, Franz Wagner, Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter Jr. this offseason alone.

“This place raised me,” Suggs said before training camp. “They have been part of my growth as a person (at) a crucial point in my life – not my career. In my life. Coming here as a 19 year old, going on to be a 20 year old young man, this place has seen all my ups and downs , has been through everything I have. This is where I have lived, where my family has called home for the past four years.

“As long as I’m here, this place has my whole heart. I can’t wait to keep showing up here on the field and showing how grateful and appreciative I am for this place and everything they’ve done for me through my play and everything I do.”

Suggs, a former Gonzaga Bulldog, was drafted No. 5 overall by the Magic in the 2021 NBA Draft. Since entering the league, he has played 176 games, averaging 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3 .2 assists on 42.2 percent shooting from the field.

But his 2023-2024 season was by far his best. After dealing with a slew of injuries during his first two seasons, Suggs took advantage of a healthy offseason heading into last season and made the most of it. He played and started 75 regular-season games, a boost from 48 and 53 appearances the previous two seasons, and played more than 700 minutes over his previous single-season career high.

He saw improvement across the board, posting personal highs in points per game (12.6), FG% (47.1), 3PT% (39.7), eFG% (57.8%), and steals per game (1,4). As Orlando’s defensive end, he helped the young Magic to the NBA’s third-best defensive rating en route to an All-Defensive Second Team nod for himself.

Taking into account all the areas in which he has made progress, Suggs earned votes for both Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player during Orlando’s breakout season.

With this deal, Orlando continues its trend of being aggressive with rookie contract extensions. Earlier this season, Wagner, his 2021 draft classmate, received a five-year, $224 million maximum contract extension earlier this summer that will begin during the 2025-26 season, along with Suggs’ new contract.

Since the league’s 2020 offseason, teammates Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter Jr., Cole Anthony and now former teammate Markelle Fultz received extensions on top of their rookie deals, and both Isaac and Carter Jr. have taken over the franchise for a second time. time.

With Banchero in line for an extension of his own next summer, which would almost certainly be a max-level deal barring any unforeseen hurdles, the Magic are one step closer to securing longevity for its youthful core, which represents a new chapter of his career. success for basketball in Orlando.

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