As the NBA pre-season gets underway and teams look to finalize their rosters, the Orlando Magic took care of some business by locking down it’s starting centre.
Wendell Carter Jr. and the Magic have reportedly agreed to a three-year, $59 million maximum extension according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The reported deal runs through the 2028-29 season by which he’ll have earned $82 million. According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, the third year of the extension comes with a team option.
Carter, 25, is entering his seventh season in the league after splitting the first six between the Chicago Bulls and Magic. The 6-foot-10 big man was originally selected seventh overall by the Bulls in 2018.
In the 2023-24 season, he averaged 11 points and 6.9 rebounds on 52.5 per cent shooting from the field and 37.4 per cent from distance.
The knock on the former Duke Blue Devil throughout his pro career has been a lack of availability. Carter has only amassed 60 games once in the NBA and is coming off a 55-game campaign after battling knee and back injuries.
His fortunes don’t appear to be changing either as Carter appeared to have sprained his ankle in Orlando’s pre-season loss against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday, leaving the contest mid-way through the third quarter after landing awkwardly.
Given Carter’s injury history, it makes sense that the Magic also retained backup centres Goga Bitadze and Moritz Wagner over the off-season. It was a busy summer for Orlando that also included signing Franz Wagner to a rookie-scale, five-year max extension and adding two-time champion Kentavious Caldwell-Pope via free agency.