Recent NBA Contract Extension Grades: Thompson Twins, Keyonte George Get Paid

As a new NBA season inches closer, teams around the league are looking toward the future.

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Players entering their fourth season and the final year of their rookie contract are eligible to sign rookie scale extensions up until the day before the start of the regular season. That makes this a big summer for the 2023 draft class. Victor Wembanyama was taken care of early in the offseason, a no-brainer extension where he took a slight discount to let the Spurs keep a contender around him.

Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson, who followed Wemby in the draft, remain without a rookie scale extension. Either could get a deal done ahead of the regular season, but for now, they are headed for restricted free agency next summer.

The Thompson twins went in back-to-back picks three years ago and each was recently rewarded with a payday ahead of their fourth NBA season. Elsewhere around the league, Utah locked down its franchise point guard, while Miami and New Orleans handed out veteran extensions to bolster its depth moving forward.

Here’s a look at five recent contract extensions around the league with a letter grade for each deal:

Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets

• The extension: Five years, $208 million

The Rockets inked Amen Thompson to a five-year deal that ties him to the franchise through the 2031–32 season. His new salary nets out to $41.6 million annually and will have him make around 21% of Houston’s salary cap over the course of the deal, which is right in line with Alperen Şengün.

Thompson is one of the more versatile players and best athletes across the NBA. He broke out last season with 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He’s bound to make his first All-Star appearance sooner rather than later and with Kevin Durant under contract for two more years, Thompson’s new deal gives the franchise more certainty in what was a no-brainer of an extension.

• The grade: A

Ausar Thompson, Detroit Pistons

• The extension: Five years, $155 million

Amen’s twin brother Ausar’s recent contract extension with the Pistons is one of the more interesting of the bunch. Thompson is a key piece of the Pistons’ core alongside Cade Cunningham after he led the league in steals and received first team All-Defensive honors last season. A contract extension was coming, but the fact that it got done before All-Star center Jalen Duren’s restricted free agency situation was resolved is peculiar.

That may say more about how the Pistons and Duren remain apart in talks on a new contract, which makes it nice for Detroit to lock down Thompson in the meantime. It may stick out that Ausar got $53 million less than his twin brother, but it’s important to remember that the two are drastically different players. Amen is much further along offensively, while Ausar is a superior defender. Both are insane athletes, but the Pistons got Ausar on a much more affordable deal because he still has a long way to go on offense.

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Ausar’s new deal keeps him around 15% of the Pistons’ cap, which leaves plenty of room to work out a deal with Duren or improve the roster elsewhere if things don’t work out. Either way, this is a great contract for Detroit as the franchise secures one of the NBA’s best defenders through 2032.

• The grade: A+

Keyonte George, Utah Jazz

• The extension: Five years, $155 million

The Jazz are on the rise thanks in big part to the growth of Keyonte George. After Utah brought him in as the 16th pick in the 2023 draft, he broke out last season with 23.6 points and 6.1 assists per game while shooting 37.1% from three-point range on nearly seven attempts per game. He’s Utah’s point guard of the future and forms one of the NBA’s more exciting young backcourts with the arrival of Darryn Peterson over the summer as the No. 2 pick in the draft.

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When you add Ace Bailey, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., the Jazz are building something real. George’s contract could be worth up to $157.5 million if he hits included incentives and he’ll make up around 15% of the team’s cap sheet over the course of the deal. With big contracts already on the books for Jackson and Markkanen, plus the need to pay Bailey and Peterson eventually if all goes well, George’s extension number is big for the Jazz.

Having another significant contract on the books may make it tough if the franchise eventually wants to part with Jackson or Markkanen, but George has All-Star potential as soon as this year.

• The grade: A

Pelle Larsson, Miami Heat

• The extension: Four years, $60 million

The Heat need depth after the roster was consolidated to take the big swing for Giannis Antetokounmpo. The only young player Miami retained after the trade with Milwaukee was Pelle Larsson, the 44th pick in the 2024 draft. He developed into a key contributor last season as he averaged 11.4 points in 70 games and 54 starts.

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Now, he’ll make $15 million annually on a deal that keeps him on Miami’s books through 2031. The final year of Larsson’s new contract includes a mutual option, which will be picked up if either Larsson or the Heat decide to. It’s an affordable contract, but this could be a deal Miami tries to get off of in a couple years depending how much the roster needs to improve around Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.

• The grade: C+

Saddiq Bey, New Orleans Pelicans

• The extension: Three years, $55.5 million

Saddiq Bey missed the entirety of the 2024–25 season as he recovered from a torn ACL. He signed a three-year deal with the Wizards after the injury and ended up getting traded to the Pelicans before he ever played a game for Washington. In his return to the court last season, he was one of the NBA’s more underrated players as he put up a career-high 17.7 points per game.

The return led to a new deal that keeps him with New Orleans through the end of the decade, which makes him and Herb Jones the Pels’ longest commitments until Derik Queen and/or Jeremiah Fears get paid. Whether Zion Williamson stays around or Fears and Queen are the true franchise players, the future of the Pelicans remains in flux.

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Bey’s new deal keeps a strong three-point shooting forward around no matter what the team looks like moving forward. He’s the type of player any team would like to have, but his health history and the length of the contract brings a slight bit of concern. Bey’s new contract doesn’t break the bank, but it would have been nice to get him for a little less.

• The grade: B

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This story was originally published September 20, 2026 at 2:37 PM.