
Domantas Sabonis’ Current Contract
Sabonis is currently on his rookie contract, which had its value determined before he was even selected.
As the No. 11 pick in the 2016 draft by the Orlando Magic (technically), Sabonis earned a four-year, $11,179,555 contract to start off his career. That is the contract he is currently entering the third season of.
Because his contract is a rookie scale deal, it comes with some caveats, though most of them have passed. The third and fourth seasons of Sabonis’ deal were team options, meaning if he didn’t perform well early in the deal those options could have been declined before the contract ended, thus ending it early. The Pacers picked up the third year option last summer, and as we learned recently, they picked up his fourth year team option as well, meaning he will earn the full $11.2 million that was laid out earlier.
That move was clearly going to happen. The Pacers want to keep Sabonis around for a long time, and picking up that option gives them Sabonis for an extra season before he enters restricted free agency in the summer of 2020. Then, they have to pay him to keep him.