Here's A List Of Players Eligible For Rookie Extensions By Midnight

Even though the 2015-16 NBA season is still in its infancy, we’re already approaching a significant milestone in the lead-up to the offseason: the deadline for extending rookie contracts signed in 2012. Any player who qualified for such an extension and doesn’t sign one by midnight will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Among those who were eligible, some players who have fully established themselves in the league have already signed their big deals (Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Damian Lillard, most notably), and those who are left are either content to wait until the end of the season for a big payday, or still have something to prove.

Bradley Beal and Andre Drummond are both locks to let the deadline pass, knowing that the money is coming but that their teams want to keep the smaller rookie deals on the books for the purpose of signing marquee free agents. They’ve each had great starts to the season, and continue on their trajectories to be potentially foundational players.

Harrison Barnes, and to a lesser extent Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas, have shown demonstrably NBA-level skills at their position on elite teams that don’t ask them to be stars. All three could make arguments that they’ve earned big contracts, but play for teams with tough cap situations. All have the potential to be overpaid by teams desperate for playoff-caliber starters.

Perhaps the most interesting situations are those from players who haven’t clearly demonstrated the ability to be rotation pieces for a championship team. Tyler Zeller, Jared Sullinger, Meyers Leonard and Evan Fournier all will get the minutes to prove something, and none are likely to be signed ahead of the deadline.

Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes — Getty Image

Curiously, one of the players from the 2012 Draft who’s proven the least has already been locked up — Jeremy Lamb. The Hornets have reportedly agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal with Lamb, whose main claim to fame so far has been as the disappointing centerpiece of the Thunder’s disappointing trade haul for James Harden. On the court, he has done nothing of substance. But we’re now in a league where $7 million is a relatively cheap yearly deal for a rotation player, and the Hornets are betting he will turn into one. With Kidd-Gilchrist out for the season, he’ll also have his chance. (He’s averaged 10 points in 16 minutes per game so far this season.)

As far as deadlines go in the NBA, this looks to be a relatively quiet one, but still instructive, as teams make their first chess moves to set themselves up for what could be an absolutely crazy offseason.

Here’s a list of all somewhat-notable players up for extensions by midnight: