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Anthony Davis has agreed to a five year extension that could be worth over $140 million with the New Orleans Pelicans. The contract details, mentioned by Marc Stein in his summer scoop, are subject to the 2016-17 salary cap. While this extension is signed now it will not take effect until after the television money comes flooding in to push the cap, and therefore the maximum Davis is eligible to earn, skyward.
As it stands currently, this extension is for 25% of the cap, similar to Kyrie Irving's extension agreed to last summer. However, should Davis be elected a starter in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, or be selected to an All-NBA Team, or win the 2016 NBA MVP, his contract will be worth the full 30% of the salary cap thanks to the Rose Rule in the 2011 NBA CBA. Note that any one of those honors is necessary, although Pelican fans won't mind if AD hits the trifecta.
New Orleans star Anthony Davis has agreed to a five-year, $145 million maximum contract extension, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 1, 2015
NOLA, I am here to stay! Just getting started… #6MoreYears #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/Kni8WpikEA
— Anthony Davis (@AntDavis23) July 1, 2015
The exact dollar amount will not be determined until July 2016, when the moratorium period ends and the NBA sets the 2016-17 salary cap. Earlier projections by Larry Coon, assuming an $89 Million cap for 2016-17, put the amount at $143.5 Million.
Total is $143,577,500 over five years. @NBACapAnalyst
— Larry Coon (@LarryCoon) April 26, 2015
This contract will keep Anthony Davis in the Crescent City through the 2020-21 NBA season. A lifetime of basketball lies between now and then. The Pelicans roster will be hardly recognizable after five off seasons. The NBA CBA itself will be rewritten in 2017; those unpredictable negotiations will have a lasting effect on the landscape of the league.
Davis averaged 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and a league leading 2.9 blocks per game last season. Within the confines of new head coach Alvin Gentry's offense those numbers are expected to rise.