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October 13, 2026 at 4:12 AM UTC

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Amen Thompson's Extension With Houston Is Now the Benchmark for the 2023 Rookie Class

Reports put the Rockets guard's five-year rookie-scale extension at $208 million, and with the season about a week away, it is shaping talks for Brandon Miller, Cason Wallace and Jalen Duren.

Amen Thompson names the first thing he bought with his new $208m Rockets contract — Yahoo
Amen Thompson names the first thing he bought with his new $208m Rockets contract — Yahoo

Houston has locked in Amen Thompson on a five-year rookie-scale extension that has become the price point for the league's 2023 draft class. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of the Stein Line refer to it as a $200 million deal. Yahoo Sports and The Athletic put it at $208 million, and Yahoo adds that it includes a 10% trade kicker and runs through 2032. The Athletic reported on Sept. 21 that Thompson agreed to the deal earlier that month. The exact date has not been confirmed.

The contract has reached beyond Houston. With the regular season about a week away and set to open with a triple-header on NBC and Peacock, executives, agents and teams are using Thompson's number to measure what comes next.

What Houston Paid For

Thompson is 23. Last season he started 79 games, led the NBA in minutes played and posted career highs of 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 53.4% from the field. The Athletic described him as a Defensive Player of the Year finalist. At $208 million, the deal averages about $41.6 million a year.

Brandon Miller Is Next Man Up For Massive $200+ Million Deal — Yahoo Sports
Brandon Miller Is Next Man Up For Massive $200+ Million Deal — Yahoo Sports

Thompson spoke about it at Rockets media day. "I feel like I'm an important piece to the team. I think they think the same thing," he said. "I want to bring a championship to Houston." Houston was eliminated in the first round last season.

His twin brother Ausar also signed this summer. The Pistons wing agreed to a five-year, $155 million extension, about $31 million per year, running through 2031-32. Ausar made the All-Defensive First Team and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Together the brothers' deals total $363 million. Amen said they did not tell each other about their contracts. "We actually don't really talk about that stuff," he said.

Brandon Miller Is the Next Test

The next major deal is expected to come from Charlotte. Stein and Fischer wrote that Brandon Miller is "still projected by various league observers" to reach an extension that could exceed Thompson's. They also reported a growing consensus among rival front-office executives that his deal could be richer "in a nod to his higher offensive ceiling." Yahoo's Kurt Helin reported that the Hornets are nearing an offer at or above Thompson's number. ESPN's Brian Windhorst said earlier that Charlotte had held substantial talks and that Miller should expect his first digit to be a two.

Miller, 23, was the No. 2 pick in 2023. Last season he averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 65 games, shooting 38.3% from three. He enters the final year of his rookie contract. The Hornets have restructured around him. They traded LaMelo Ball to Minnesota and moved on from Miles Bridges, leaving Miller and Kon Knueppel as the central pairing. Knueppel is under rookie control through 2029 and is not yet extension-eligible.

The case against a record number is narrower than the case for it. Yahoo noted that Miller has had a 12.5% turnover rate in each of the past two seasons and is not a strong presence at the rim. Those are areas for improvement, not reasons to doubt the Hornets' commitment.

A Market Taking Shape

Thompson's deal is one of several this offseason. Victor Wembanyama, Keyonte George and Pelle Larsson have also signed rookie-scale extensions. On Saturday, Golden State gave Brandin Podziemski a five-year, $110 million extension. That shows how widely these deals vary even within one class.

Oklahoma City is the next case. Stein and Fischer reported that the Thunder and Cason Wallace are negotiating an extension worth about $25 million per year, though some around the league wonder whether it could climb higher. Wallace, 22, averaged 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals last season and shot 35.1% from three. His value is mostly defensive. Yahoo noted that keeping the Thunder core together will require careful management, including the likelihood of paying into the second apron for a couple of years. That is analysis from the reporting, not a confirmed plan.

The Duren Complication

The Thompson contracts are also affecting Detroit's talks with Jalen Duren. The big man is a restricted free agent after being named an All-Star and to the All-NBA Third Team. The Athletic reported that the Thompson twins' deals "added a layer" to his negotiations. Neither twin made an All-Star or All-NBA team last season, so the report said Duren sees his value in a higher tier. Yahoo's summary of that reporting added that Duren was poor in the playoffs, which has affected his market. No agreement had been reported as of the latest information.

What to Watch

The most immediate question is whether Miller's deal finishes above Thompson's. If it does, Houston's number will have been the floor for the class and not the ceiling. The Wallace and Duren situations will show how much teams value defense and two-way play compared with scoring and accolades. For Houston, the extension makes Thompson a long-term anchor and fixes a major part of its salary structure through 2032, which any future roster decisions will have to account for.

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