Magic Sign G Cole Anthony to a 3 year, 39M Contract Extension

[anothermagicfan]

My hunch is if everything goes the way the front office and coaching staff want Fultz stays healthy.. they trade him at the deadline and move Cole into the starting line-up. I think they feel like the Suggs/Cole starting back court has more potential than the Fultz/Suggs back court. In a perfect world if they remain patient they probably hope Black is playable as the back up PG with Jett as the back up shooting guard by next season.

I would be *very* surprised if this happens.

More likely is that Fultz just gets resigned after the season and they go into next season with Fultz/Suggs/Anthony/Black as the four primary guards and Jett works in as Franz's backup.

Let's put ourselves in Cole's shoes and his agent for a moment, okay?

A starter is going to be able to negotiate a bigger contract, right?

Don't you think that the topic of the timeline to Cole starting came at up at some point between he and his agent and then mentioned during negotiations by his agent to the organization?

I played basketball at many different levels for 20 or so years. I've had friends that have played pro ball in Mexico and Australia and several friends that have played college basketball. In the game of basketball STARTING is a HUGE deal amongst players. Most players that are good enough want to start for the highest of symbolic purposes. I think there is ZERO chance Cole hasn't intimated his desire to start with the coaches and with the front office at some point.

I also think last year the Cole/Suggs back court showed more synergy than Fultz/Harris. My hunch is they envision Cole/Suggs as the starting back court of the future.. the very near future.

Put ourselves in Coles shoes. Him and his agent would talk about starting and being able to negotiate a bigger contract if he was starting right?

So look at Coles timeline.
Rookie year- good play for a rookie. Backup minutes. Decent shooting and high rebounds for a point guard. Definitely something to build on.
Year 2-starting but only because of injuries. Slight increase in points and still a solid rebounder. Otherwise helps lead the team to the #1 draft pick.
Year 3-back to the bench. Almost identical stats and play from his rookie season. Slightest of improvement shooting percentage wise. Defense not really much better. Lots of realgm folks think his defense was better but it wasn't. His ability to stay in front of his defender improved. That's only a portion of defense though.

So 3 seasons into his career and he's shown the ability to be the same player he was as a rookie. Great contract for Cole. Not bad for Orlando. Leaves plenty of flexibility to the salary cap.

[ibraheim718]

I would be *very* surprised if this happens.

More likely is that Fultz just gets resigned after the season and they go into next season with Fultz/Suggs/Anthony/Black as the four primary guards and Jett works in as Franz's backup.

Let's put ourselves in Cole's shoes and his agent for a moment, okay?

A starter is going to be able to negotiate a bigger contract, right?

Don't you think that the topic of the timeline to Cole starting came at up at some point between he and his agent and then mentioned during negotiations by his agent to the organization?

I played basketball at many different levels for 20 or so years. I've had friends that have played pro ball in Mexico and Australia and several friends that have played college basketball. In the game of basketball STARTING is a HUGE deal amongst players. Most players that are good enough want to start for the highest of symbolic purposes. I think there is ZERO chance Cole hasn't intimated his desire to start with the coaches and with the front office at some point.

I also think last year the Cole/Suggs back court showed more synergy than Fultz/Harris. My hunch is they envision Cole/Suggs as the starting back court of the future.. the very near future.

Put ourselves in Coles shoes. Him and his agent would talk about starting and being able to negotiate a bigger contract if he was starting right?

So look at Coles timeline.
Rookie year- good play for a rookie. Backup minutes. Decent shooting and high rebounds for a point guard. Definitely something to build on.
Year 2-starting but only because of injuries. Slight increase in points and still a solid rebounder. Otherwise helps lead the team to the #1 draft pick.
Year 3-back to the bench. Almost identical stats and play from his rookie season. Slightest of improvement shooting percentage wise. Defense not really much better. Lots of realgm folks think his defense was better but it wasn't. His ability to stay in front of his defender improved. That's only a portion of defense though.

So 3 seasons into his career and he's shown the ability to be the same player he was as a rookie. Great contract for Cole. Not bad for Orlando. Leaves plenty of flexibility to the salary cap.

With all due respect some of you guys are insane. He's been in the league 3 years. It's not a slight at all to say he's the same player as he was when he was a rookie.. that was 3 years ago. He was 19-20. He can elevate his game in years 4 and 5.. even if it's just a little bit he starts to sit on the fringe of NBA starter.

[davey_wavy]

All these “great value!” and “good price” comments… are we grocery shopping or signing basketball players here?

[RookieStar]

All these “great value!” and “good price” comments… are we grocery shopping or signing basketball players here?

Grocery shopping has a set fixed price.

I think we are in an open-air market with those comments.

[locomagicfan]

His decision to sign this contract means he realizes he may not get that much better elsewhere, and he'd rather stay in Orlando and be the team's new Darrel Armstrong heart and soul type teammate.

[pepe1991]

This is legit good value move
Cole is more valuable to us than some other teams, but he is young and improving.

[yoyojw17]

I would be *very* surprised if this happens.

More likely is that Fultz just gets resigned after the season and they go into next season with Fultz/Suggs/Anthony/Black as the four primary guards and Jett works in as Franz's backup.

Let's put ourselves in Cole's shoes and his agent for a moment, okay?

A starter is going to be able to negotiate a bigger contract, right?

Don't you think that the topic of the timeline to Cole starting came at up at some point between he and his agent and then mentioned during negotiations by his agent to the organization?

I played basketball at many different levels for 20 or so years. I've had friends that have played pro ball in Mexico and Australia and several friends that have played college basketball. In the game of basketball STARTING is a HUGE deal amongst players. Most players that are good enough want to start for the highest of symbolic purposes. I think there is ZERO chance Cole hasn't intimated his desire to start with the coaches and with the front office at some point.

I also think last year the Cole/Suggs back court showed more synergy than Fultz/Harris. My hunch is they envision Cole/Suggs as the starting back court of the future.. the very near future.

Put ourselves in Coles shoes. Him and his agent would talk about starting and being able to negotiate a bigger contract if he was starting right?

So look at Coles timeline.
Rookie year- good play for a rookie. Backup minutes. Decent shooting and high rebounds for a point guard. Definitely something to build on.
Year 2-starting but only because of injuries. Slight increase in points and still a solid rebounder. Otherwise helps lead the team to the #1 draft pick.
Year 3-back to the bench. Almost identical stats and play from his rookie season. Slightest of improvement shooting percentage wise. Defense not really much better. Lots of realgm folks think his defense was better but it wasn't. His ability to stay in front of his defender improved. That's only a portion of defense though.

So 3 seasons into his career and he's shown the ability to be the same player he was as a rookie. Great contract for Cole. Not bad for Orlando. Leaves plenty of flexibility to the salary cap.

Similar stat line with MUCH improved shooting numbers. less 40% to over 45%... and 3% difference in 3 pointer and shooting nearly 90% from....is not "slightest".... That shows lot of growth in my opinion.... along with an increased effort on the defensive end and embracing of his role. shouldn't downplay what he has done.

[best of luck]

Great deal and love it. We need that scoring off the bench and he seems a great teammate.

[shadrock]

All these “great value!” and “good price” comments… are we grocery shopping or signing basketball players here?

Well when we are in a market where you can overpay and underpay for a player, i think theres no issue saying the price is right? What am i missing here...

[KillMonger]

I'm looking at what green got from Dallas and I'm feeling even better about this deal....

Sent from the phone in my hands

[drsd]

Nesmith got 3y/$33m extension earlier today, so this is good.

Cole provides what Orlando lacks on offense.

Payton Pritchard and Gabe Vincent were also signed at this salary range.

Another cost-effective contract from WePark. It seems that where management excels is in not routinely overpaying players. It's kind of the opposite of Scott Perry of the Knicks.

[drsd]

How does the front office get the agents to agree with such low deals?

Part of the answer is taxes. For example: if Anthony had signed the same contract in beloved NYC, he would pay 1M a year more in taxes than the same in Orlando.

[drsd]

Is this the end of the road for Fultz in ORL?

You do a thousand murders, you kind of get to be in the sequel.

[drsd]

This is amazing news . No way Anthony Black takes Fultz out of the rotation. We are gonna keep Fultz at 19million per over 4 just watch.

I have Fultz on 4/90 (22.5M a year) and had he and Anthony combining for 40M a year. Anthony on 13 and Fultz on 19 equals 32M between them. That is cost effective to keep them both still max out the wünderkinder, and still have basic depth in the roster to contend.

[drsd]

Put ourselves in Coles shoes. Him and his agent would talk about starting and being able to negotiate a bigger contract if he was starting right?

So look at Coles timeline.
Rookie year- good play for a rookie. Backup minutes. Decent shooting and high rebounds for a point guard. Definitely something to build on.
Year 2-starting but only because of injuries. Slight increase in points and still a solid rebounder. Otherwise helps lead the team to the #1 draft pick.
Year 3-back to the bench. Almost identical stats and play from his rookie season. Slightest of improvement shooting percentage wise. Defense not really much better. Lots of realgm folks think his defense was better but it wasn't. His ability to stay in front of his defender improved. That's only a portion of defense though.

So 3 seasons into his career and he's shown the ability to be the same player he was as a rookie. Great contract for Cole. Not bad for Orlando. Leaves plenty of flexibility to the salary cap.

To extend this thought line, Anthony is only 23 years old. His 39M will be a net 21M to put in to the bank; that's his money forever!

For now, after FICA, on his biweekly paycheck, Anthony's will read "$270,000". Every two weeks, Anthony has another 270k in the in-box of his bank account; for 78 paychecks over three years. Hard to argue against that!
Then at 26 he gets to go for the real coin. If Anthony overplays his contract, he could be looking at 3/90M starting in 2027/28.

[pepe1991]

This is amazing news . No way Anthony Black takes Fultz out of the rotation. We are gonna keep Fultz at 19million per over 4 just watch.

I have Fultz on 4/90 (22.5M a year) and had he and Anthony combining for 40M a year. Anthony on 13 and Fultz on 19 equals 32M between them. That is cost effective to keep them both still max out the wünderkinder, and still have basic depth in the roster to contend.

I have Fultz on 4 years , $100M mark.

tbh i thought Cole will be getting more. Like $18M a year or even $20

[p0peye]

Great deal, we have backup PG set for next 3 years. I am not sure I would pay Fultz starters money.

[drsd]

It is now reported that year-3 for Anthony is a team-option. WOW!

Cole Anthony’s contract has an interesting structure to it and also has a Team Option in Y3.
24/25: $12,900,000 (9.0%)
25/26: $13,100,000 (8.7%)
26/27: $13,100,000 (8.3%) – Team Option

[RookieStar]

It is now reported that year-3 for Anthony is a team-option. WOW!

Cole Anthony’s contract has an interesting structure to it and also has a Team Option in Y3.
24/25: $12,900,000 (9.0%)
25/26: $13,100,000 (8.7%)
26/27: $13,100,000 (8.3%) – Team Option

Team option... of course what else...

[pepe1991]

Okongwu and Cole so far are only logical exstensions. Everything else? Woof.