Three-and-a-half years removed from being the big acquisition in a bold trade from Chicago for All-Star big man Nikola Vucevic, Wendell Carter Jr enters Year 7 with a shiny $59m contract extension set to kick in next season as part of a youthful Orlando core hoping they can bridge the gap among their Eastern Conference rivals from plucky overachievers to genuine title contenders.
Carter’s core role rewarded, now comes the next step
ORLANDO weren’t expected to reach a winner-takes-all scenario, having gone down 2-0 against a Cleveland team with more depth and All-Star firepower by comparison.
That they were able to defy expectations and ultimately take it down to the wire, ending a 47-win season with an admirable effort on the road in Ohio, speaks to exactly the sort of positive reinforcement and motivation head coach Jamahl Mosley will hope his ball club can learn from heading into next season. Carter Jr’s three-year, $59m extension means all of their core is now locked up. Time to push on?
Carter averaged 11 points (52.5 FG%), 6.9 rebounds and 37.4% from three-point range in 55 regular season games (48 starts) last term and while those numbers might not seem impressive, he was producing that in 25.6 minutes per game.
The deal begins in 2025-26 and is on an ascending scale financially: $18.1, 19.5 and Orlando hold a club option for $20.9m in the 2028-29 season, Carter Jr’s age-29 year.
ESPN reported the news of the big man’s new contract, the last in a long line of offseason moves which included a splashy-but-shrewd three-year, $66m contract for two-time NBA champion and veteran shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
After four years apiece in Detroit and Los Angeles, KCP will play for his third team in four seasons but the veteran’s consistency on both ends of the ball is something Denver will miss dearly as the 2023 champions look to regroup.
Reserve big men Moritz Wagner (two years, $22m) and Goga Bitadze (three years, $25m) both re-upped while power forward Jonathan Isaac will hope his best still awaits after serious injuries as he too inked an extension, five years and $84m.
You’d much rather commit money than risk losing a rising star and that’s what they did with Moritz’s younger brother Franz, after an eventful Year 3 for the #8 pick in the 2021 draft where the German small forward averaged 19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists – all new career-highs – incremental improvements as his partnership alongside Paolo Banchero continues to blossom as the franchise’s star tandem.
As for what’s next: Orlando lost 106-104 to New Orleans in their first preseason game, with San Antonio, a Pelicans repeat and Philadelphia on Oct. 19 all scheduled before they tip-off their regular season the following Thursday away at the Miami Heat.
Picture source: Getty Images
Mo and Sports 