Orlando Magic, Wendell Carter Jr. agree to contract extension: Why its a fair deal for both sides

In August, the Cleveland Cavaliers retained young center Jarrett Allen in restricted free agency, re-signing him for $100 million over the next five seasons.

On Friday afternoon, the Orlando Magic and Wendell Carter Jr. agreed in principle to a four-year, $50 million contract extension that will go into effect for the 2022-23 season and run through the 2025-26 season, The Athletic learned from the agency that represents Carter.

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Many talent evaluators who work for NBA teams would argue that Allen has a higher ceiling than Carter, but it would be difficult for those talent evaluators to argue Allen merits $50 million more than Carter, albeit over one additional season.

That’s the main takeaway of the agreement between the Magic and Carter: It was fair for both sides, and certainly more reasonable for the Magic than Allen’s deal was for the Cavaliers.

Carter is only 22, nearly one full year younger than Allen, and NBA talent evaluators’ opinions about him can be summed up succinctly: He’s a safe, solid player whose ceiling is relatively low but whose floor is relatively high. As long as he remains healthy, there’s no second-guessing what Carter will bring even if he doesn’t develop any further. He’ll clean the defensive glass at an above-average rate, defend smartly and switch capably onto smaller players because of his nimble footwork.

In recent weeks, the Magic have pushed Carter to expand his game, and Carter has responded enthusiastically, league sources said. Jamahl Mosley, Orlando’s first-year head coach, asked Carter to concentrate offensively on taking 3-point shots. Mosley also deployed Carter during the preseason at power forward as much as, if not more than, at center, the position Carter has played for most of his three prior NBA seasons.

With power forwards Jonathan Isaac and Chuma Okeke missing the entire preseason with injuries, Mosley experimented extensively with a twin-towers starting lineup of Carter at the four and Mo Bamba at the five. The pairing has a chance to work because Carter is more comfortable offensively inside the arc and setting screens, while Bamba has a superb 3-point shooting stroke.

There’s a chance Mosley will open the Magic’s regular-season opener Wednesday in San Antonio with Carter and Bamba as starters.

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When asked recently about Carter’s defense at power forward, Mosley answered: “He’s been very good. The one thing that helps him is that he’s got great, active feet, and I think him understanding who’s a shooter, a non-shooter, those are going to be some scenarios that we’re going to have to continue to monitor. But I think he did a really good job of understanding how he could guard some of these fours in the league.”

The Magic acquired Carter in a blockbuster trade last March. Orlando sent two-time All-Star center Nikola Vucevic and power forward Al-Farouq Aminu to Chicago for two lightly protected future first-round picks, Carter and forward Otto Porter Jr.

In 22 games after the trade, Carter averaged 11.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Porter joined the Golden State Warriors in free agency over the summer. Meanwhile, the Bulls conveyed the first of their two outbound first-round picks to the Magic, and Orlando used that pick to draft glue-guy forward Franz Wagner eighth overall.

And now the Magic have agreed to a long-term contract with Carter.

Bamba and Carter are members of the 2018 draft class, with Bamba going sixth overall to Orlando and Carter going seventh overall to Chicago. As former first-round picks who were about to enter their fourth NBA seasons, they had until this upcoming Monday at 6 p.m. ET to reach contract extensions.

It remains unlikely the Magic will agree to an extension with Bamba, who at 23 is nearly one full year older than Carter.

Given Bamba’s track record so far, it would be difficult for team executives to justify a significant long-term commitment at a dollar amount that would make sense for Bamba to accept. To put it another way: Bamba would be smart to bet on himself and devote all of his energy to having a breakout season, the kind of season that would command a lucrative offer in restricted free agency during the summer of 2022.

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Because of a fractured left shinbone as a rookie and a run-in with COVID-19 as a second-year player, this past summer was the first full offseason Bamba has had as a pro in which he could fully devote himself to improving his conditioning. His hard work produced welcome results during Orlando’s four-game preseason schedule, and he played with greater energy than ever. A breakout season is possible.

Considering that the Magic will sign Carter to a deal worth a reasonable average salary of $12.5 million per season — a contract that could be moved easily in a trade, if necessary — it’s not inconceivable that they would consider re-signing Bamba next summer if the price is right or Bamba blossoms.

One of the negatives about Carter is that he has never had a season free of injuries. Indeed, for him to reach his potential, he will need to shed that label of not being able to stay healthy.

Wendell Carter Jr.'s injury history

Agreeing to a contract now protects Carter financially in case he suffers another injury in the season ahead.

At the same time, however, Carter’s contract could look more and more like a bargain as it reaches its third and fourth years. The non-taxpayer midlevel exception for the 2021-22 season is set for $9.536 million, and with increases in league revenue, the 2024-25 and 2025-26 midlevel salary levels might approach Carter’s salaries in those seasons.

— The Athletic’s Shams Charania contributed to this report.

(Photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)

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