In recent months, a dizzying number of NBA players have signed contract extensions with their respective teams. Much of the credit goes to the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, which boosted the amount of money that teams can pay players in contract extensions.
Memphis Grizzlies center Jaren Jackson Jr. may put those new restrictions to the test during the next year, however.
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Jackson signed a four-year, $104.7 million agreement with the Grizzlies in October 2021, with the value decreasing each season. The Grizzlies frontloaded his contract to counteract Ja Morant’s huge raise when his rookie contract expired after the 2022-23 season.
Jackson made roughly $29 million during the first year of his contract deal. This year, he expects to make less than $25.3 million. In 2025-26, the final year of his existing contract, he will only get $23.4 million. This may make it tough for the Grizzlies to sign him to another agreement before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2026.
The previous CBA allowed teams to offer only 120% of a player’s prior salary or 120% of the league’s estimated average player salary as the starting salary of a new agreement. The new CBA increased that to 140%, respectively. That has prepared the way for a number of new extensions over the last year, but Jackson could be a litmus test for whether those regulations were broad enough.
From now until October 21, the Grizzlies can only give Jackson a three-year extension starting at $32.8 million and totaling $106.2 million. There’s been no indication that Jackson is considering such a deal. They can offer him the same beginning pay on an extension next summer, but they can add another year at the end, increasing the total worth to $146.8 million over four years.
However, Jackson might earn even more as a free agency in 2026. With the NBA’s new national TV contracts set to raise the salary ceiling significantly over the next few years, Jackson might be in line for a $200 million payout in free agency.
