Jarrett Allen has become the latest Cleveland Cavalier to sign a maximum contract extension since the conclusion of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Allen signed a three-year, $91million extension with the Cavaliers on Wednesday, according to multiple sources.
The deal will guarantee him $131million over the next five years.
Allen joins Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley as Cleveland players to ink extensions this off-season, as the franchise has established itself as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.
The 26-year-old Allen averaged a career-best 16.5 points along with 10.5 rebounds in 77 games last season. His shooting percentage of 63.4 ranked fourth in the NBA.
The 22nd overall pick of the 2017 draft by the Nets, Allen spent his first three-plus NBA seasons in Brooklyn before Cleveland acquired him in January 2021.
He was named an All-Star in his first full season with the Cavs in 2021-22, when he averaged 16.1 points and a career-high 10.8 rebounds.
In 252 games in a Cavs uniform, Allen has averaged 15.1 points, 10.3 boards and 2 assists while shooting 64.2 per cent.
The Cavs reached last season's East semi-finals before being ousted by the eventual champion Boston Celtics with Allen sitting out the entire play-off series due to a rib injury and Mitchell missing the final two games because of a left calf strain.
In the four post-season games he played before his injury, Allen averaged 17 points on 67.6 per cent shooting and 13.8 rebounds.
Russell Westbrook has joined the Denver Nuggets on a two-year contract containing a player option for 2025-26.
Earlier this month, Westbrook was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Utah Jazz, who reached a contract buyout agreement with the point guard.
Westbrook had long been expected to move on to Denver, with Utah receiving a series of second-round draft picks from the Clippers to facilitate the move.
On Friday, Westbrook was in Denver to put pen to paper on his deal, with his agent Jeff Schwartz confirming the length and terms of his contract to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The team subsequently announced the arrival of the 35-year-old on social media, with the Nuggets becoming his sixth team in the last seven years.
Westbrook will earn an estimated $6.8million with the Nuggets, who lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in last season's Western Conference semifinals.
In 2023-24 for the Clippers, he averaged career lows of 11.1 points and 4.5 assists with 5 boards.
He came off the bench in 57 of the 68 games he played, shooting 27.3 per cent from 3-point range – the second-lowest mark among the 226 players with at least 150 attempts from beyond the arc.
However, Denver believe the 2016-17 NBA MVP can still provide depth and ease the load on reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who was named the league's best player for a third time in 2023-24.
The New York Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
New York went 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
The Knicks were also ousted in the East semis in 2022-23 and reached the play-offs during Thibodeau’s first season in 2021-22, when he won his second NBA Coach of the Year award.
Prior to 2021-22, New York’s previous post-season appearance came in 2013.
The Knicks have gone 175-143 over the last four seasons under Thibodeau, who earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award in 2011 as a rookie head coach with the Chicago Bulls.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau owns a 527-389 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with Chicago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York.
His teams have gone 38-47 in the post-season, and Thibodeau’s only appearance in the conference finals came in his rookie head coach season.
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