Grading NBA's Latest Rookie-Scale Extensions | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Thirty players were drafted in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft; Chuma Okeke (No. 16 in 2019) made it 31 eligible players since he waited a year to join the league.

Not everyone made it to the extension deadline, such as Jalen Smith, Leandro Bolmaro, RJ Hampton and Udoka Azubuike. Their options were declined, and they have since relocated from their original teams or are no longer in the NBA.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement rules, teams can sign as many players to five-year rookie-scale extensions (technically six, since the final year on the original contract is considered part of the extension, but five for brevity) as the team desires, at whatever salaries are negotiated. The previous agreement limited the team to just two on the books, and those contracts had to be for maximum salaries.

For eligible players who did not extend, they will be restricted free agents if their teams issue qualifying offers in June (ranging from roughly $6-$17 million depending on draft position, games started and/or minutes played).

Another team can try to pry away a restricted free agent with an offer sheet—which can't be signed until July 6—but historically, they're uncommon. This year, two players signed offer sheets (Paul Reed and Matisse Thybulle), and their respective teams (Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers) used their right of first refusal to keep them both.

Deandre Ayton signed an offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers a year prior, but the Phoenix Suns decided to match. No players signed offer sheets in 2021. The last team to successfully nab a player through this process was the Atlanta Hawks with Bogdan Bogdanović in 2020 when the Sacramento Kings chose not to pay him $72 million over four seasons.

Generally speaking, teams don't want to tie up their spending flexibility in a player they may not get, especially when most player movement (including agreed-to signings and trades) is locked in by July 1 or 2.

These considerations (and more) factor into negotiations and either lead to deals or stalemates.