With the contract extension deadline for the Class of 2020 arriving on Sunday evening, a handful of players who had not yet gotten long-term deals done yet reached new deals to avoid hitting restricted free agency next summer.
While the max level guys were already done, there were some role guys teams wanted to lock up for the future. In Denver, backup big man Zeke Nnaji got a 4-year, $32 million deal to remain with the Nuggets, as they are very dependent on drafting and retaining their homegrown talent given their cap sheet. The opposite situation is playing out in Washington, where the Wizards have tons of future cap space after trading Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, and can use that to seek out some long-term value on their young players. The first beneficiary of that approach is Deni Avdija, as the forward and Wizards agreed to a new 4-year, $55 million deal on Sunday afternoon to keep him in Washington for the foreseeable future.
Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija has agreed on a four-year, $55 million contract extension, his agent Doug Neustadt and Matan Siman-Tov tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/CEEnAuSrNA
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 22, 2023
Avdija averaged 9.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game a year ago with 43.7/29.7/73.9 shooting splits, and the Wizards are certainly hoping there’s a step forward coming in Year 4. Avdija benefits from the Wizards kickstarting their rebuild and hoping to lean more on player development, which could give him a bit more opportunity.