(04-05-2021, 09:26 AM)michaeltex Wrote: Also, does Luka HAVE to accept the 150/5 extension? Could he turn it down for a bigger payday the next year?
I don't know the economics of how it all works, so I'm asking the assembled geniuses here.
Yes Luka can decline the max extension when offered. (The dollars are almost certain to be way bigger than you cite, more like 5 years 200M - it will depend on whether he qualifies for the 30%, and how much the cap goes up in 2022.)
1 The max extension of 5/200 would begin in 2022, but will be offered to him in the summer of 2021. Players don't decline max extensions. It's just not a thing.
2 But if he declined it, then he will be offered the identical max contract of 5/200 in the summer of 2022. Or less, if he was injured in a career threatening way or there was some dramatic fall off in his game during the 2021-22 season, in which case the 2022 offer could be very different.
3 Then if he wanted to decline that identical max contract 5/200 in the summer of 2022, he can opt for either the Qualifying Offer (one year, about 12.xM), or sign an offer sheet with a different team for 3 years or longer that would start at the same number as the Mavs' max offer but would have smaller max raises (about $1M less per year), or he can play in Europe or China or somewhere else. The Mavs would have the right to match any NBA offer (which would be a smaller contract) and pay him that smaller amount.
BUT - Players strive to get a max contract offer. When it's time for their first one, they don't decline max extensions. Luka won't be the first.