Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks’ star, has secured the bag.
Following his selection to the 2023-24 All-NBA first team, the 6-foot-7 guard is now eligible to accept the richest contract in NBA history.
Doncic, 25, can sign a five-year, $346.4 million super-max agreement in the offseason of 2025.
Dallas Mavericks star has become eligible to sign the highest deal in NBA history
Doncic can ink a $346.4 million contract extension in the 2025 offseason after making the 2023-24 All-NBA first-team
The agreement, worth 35% of the salary cap, is usually accessible to NBA veterans with at least ten years of experience.
However, the NBA implemented the designated veteran rule in 2017, which allows players with five to seven years of service to become super-max eligible provided they match specific conditions.
One is being nominated to an All-NBA team or winning the Defensive Player of the Year award in the most recent season or two of the previous three.
The other is earning MVP in one of the last three seasons.
Doncic has made the All-NBA first team for the fifth consecutive year, and the 2024-25 season will be his seventh in the NBA.
That means he will be allowed to sign the super-max contract next summer, even if he does not make the All-NBA team next season.
If signed, the agreement would take effect at the start of the 2026-27 season, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
That season, the Slovenian-born shooting guard earned an estimated $59.7 million.
He would earn $78.8 million in the agreement’s final year, the 2030-31 campaign.
Doncic’s $346.4 million contract would be the greatest in history by total value, surpassing Boston Celtics player Jaylen Brown’s $304 million pact.
Brown signed the deal last year under the same designated veteran guidelines.
Throughout the 2023-24 regular season, Doncic averaged an NBA-leading 33.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.4 steals.
On Wednesday, he guided Dallas to a 108-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, scoring 33 points.
The Mavericks’ star shot 46.2% from the floor and was 3-for-10 (30%) from beyond the arc.
Doncic also had six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals as the Mavericks took a 1-0 lead in the game.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving had 30 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Irving scored 24 points in the first half alone, keeping the Mavericks in the game despite the Timberwolves’ outstanding 24-minute performance.
“He got us going. Without him, we would certainly be down 20 by halftime,” Doncic said of his All-Star teammate.