The Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell plan to finalize a maximum rookie contract extension when free agency opens in October, sources told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes.
A max five-year extension on a rookie-scale contract will be valued at approximately $170 million this offseason, Haynes notes.
Mitchell averaged 36.3 points on 51.6% 3-point shooting, five rebounds, and 4.9 assists during Utah’s seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets, which ended Tuesday after the Jazz’s 80-78 loss.
Donovan Mitchell will finalize a max contract extension with the Jazz when free agency opens, per @ChrisBHaynes pic.twitter.com/XkxY6lADV1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 2, 2020
The 23-year-old guard revealed he initially had reservations about participating in the season’s restart in Orlando, fearing that a serious injury would derail his chances of securing a much-improved contract.
“Once my teammates told me they wanted to play, then I was all in. I couldn’t make it all about myself,” he told Haynes. “There are younger guys who aren’t established in this league and needed this time to show their value. It would have been selfish of me to stand in the way of that.
“I couldn’t let my contract get in the way of the bigger picture. I had to rely on God. If I got hurt, it was God’s will. But I put my trust in Him and didn’t worry about potentially getting injured. That allowed me to go out there and play. My faith was in God.”
Mitchell is coming off his third NBA season and earned $3.64 million in 2019-20, according to Spotrac. He’s currently set to earn approximately $5.2 million in 2020-21. If signed, his maximum rookie extension would kick in for the 2021-22 campaign.
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