The Orlando Magic and star forward Paolo Banchero have reached an agreement on a five-year maximum rookie contract extension that could be worth up to $287 million, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. The deal locks Banchero in as the face of the Magic for a half-decade and includes a player option for 2030-31. It’s the first rookie extension to include such a clause since 2021 when Luka Dončić and Trae Young placed the same language in their contracts.
Banchero will accrue base earnings of $239 million over the life of the contract, according to Charania, and his salary can reach the supermax level if he makes an All-NBA team or the All-Defensive team, or if he wins the MVP or Defensive Player of the Year awards next season.
If not for the extension, Banchero would have hit the market next offseason as a restricted free agent. The Magic picked up team options each of the last two years and were initially set to pay Banchero $15.3 million next season. The extension puts him in line for a massive pay raise to at least $47.8 million per year.
Banchero, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, was fantastic in his third year as a pro and posted career highs in points (25.9) and rebounds (7.5) per game while averaging 4.8 assists. An extended absence due to a torn right oblique muscle prevented him from making a second-straight All-Star team, though, and cost him 34 games in the opening months of the season. And because he played in fewer than 65 games, Banchero was ineligible for All-NBA consideration.
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Despite the injury, Banchero paced the Magic in scoring, rebounds and assists in his age-22 season. He is the centerpiece of a franchise back on the rise with consecutive 40-win seasons for the first time since 2009-11. He was integral in Orlando reaching the playoffs for the second time in as many years, as well. Orlando was the No. 7 seed in the East and lost in the first round to the Boston Celtics in five games.
The Magic have been busy this offseason in locking up their core and placing contributors around the unit of Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. Like Banchero, the Magic have Wagner and Suggs under contract for the next five years. They also traded for Desmond Bane, re-signed Moe Wagner and added Tyus Jones to gear up for what could be another step up the Eastern Conference ladder. The addition of Bane, a career 41% shooter from 3-point range, should address a big need for an Orlando team that had one of the NBA‘s best defenses but struggled mightily to shoot from the outside.
Banchero, 22, was the Rookie of the Year award in 2023 after he averaged 20 points per game and he made his All-Star debut the following season with an even more productive campaign.
Banchero already has a 50-point effort on his résumé as he accomplished that feat in the fourth game of last season. He took his scoring to the next level as a third-year standout, and of his six career games with at least 40 points, all but two came during the Magic’s 41-win season.
