Jalen Johnson and the Hawks are not yet trending toward a rookie scale contract extension, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post.
Johnson is one of the few prominent players from the 2021 draft who has not signed an extension. In our Front Office column earlier this month, Luke Adams ranked Johnson No. 1 among a group of nine players who are legitimate candidates for a rookie scale extension.
Another source informed Stein that Johnson has stood out during the Hawks’ training camp and the preseason. Johnson, the No. 20 pick in 2021, averaged 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his breakout 2023/24 campaign while appearing in 56 games (52 starts).
Rookie scale extensions must be reached by Monday at 6 p.m. ET. Otherwise, those players will be restricted free agents next summer.
Here’s more from Stein:
- As he reported over the weekend, Quentin Grimes is a prime candidate for an extension. Grimes, who was acquired from the Pistons during the offseason, and the Mavericks are discussing a three-year deal.
- Trey Murphy III and the Pelicans are also in active extension negotiations ahead of Monday’s deadline, league sources say. Murphy will miss the early portion of this season with a hamstring injury but has been highly productive when healthy. The five-year, $135MM extension signed in October 2023 by San Antonio’s Devin Vassell could be the type of deal Murphy is seeking.
- Reiterating a tweet from Saturday, Stein says the Magic’ Jalen Suggs is seeking a deal with an average annual value of at least $30MM.
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