The deadline day for rookie scale extensions has now passed. Players drafted in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft, who signed their four-year rookie scale contracts that summer, had both their third- and fourth-year team options exercised, and were not yet waived off of that contract, were eligible to sign extensions until yesterday.
Some did. Cade Cunningham (No. 1 pick), Jalen Green (No. 2), Evan Mobley (No. 3), Scottie Barnes (No. 4), Jalen Suggs (No. 5), Franz Wagner (No. 8), Moses Moody (No. 14), Corey Kispert (No. 15), Alperen Sengun (No. 16), Trey Murphy (No. 17) and Jalen Johnson (No. 20) all agreed to new deals before the deadline, and are now locked-in parts of their team’s future. But most did not. And some – James Bouknight, Josh Primo, Kai Jones, Usman Garuba, Josh Christopher and Keon Johnson – did not even make it to Tuesday, having been waived off their rookie scale deals altogether.
There follows a look at the 2021 first-round picks who did not receive extensions, and thus will be headed to restricted free agency in 2025.