George, Hayward lose out on super-max deals after missing All-NBA cut
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George and Utah Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward both came up short in the voting for the three All-NBA teams, which were announced Thursday. The omissions carry significant financial consequences for both, and could carry major ramifications for their teams.
Under the terms of the league's new collective bargaining agreement, qualified players who become eligible for extensions can be extended by their incumbent teams using the designated player exception (DPE), which allows teams to offer an extra year and higher starting salary (worth up to 35 percent of the cap) than a standard maximum extension for players in their service-time bracket. Qualification for the DPE is stipulated in large part by performance-based criteria, which includes making an All-NBA team appearance in the season preceding the extension, or in two of the three preceding seasons.
George and Hayward would've been eligible based on service time accrued with their respective teams, and, if given the All-NBA nod, each could've received five-year super-max deals worth approximately $207 million this summer. That now-dead possibility also might've incentivized them to remain with their small-market teams, rather than seek out other opportunities in free agency.
The two players are in slightly different situations. Hayward can opt out of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, while George still has one guaranteed year left on his deal. Depending on how proactive the Pacers decide to get this offseason, George can return next season, make an All-NBA team, and still render himself eligible for the DPE (he'll no longer be eligible if the Pacers trade him). Hayward can technically do the same by opting into the final year of his deal with the Jazz, but since it's worth just $16 million, and he stands to make nine figures in guaranteed money on a new free-agent deal, that would seem like far too great a risk.
The Pacers and Jazz will still have a leg up when it comes to retaining their homegrown stars. They still own George and Hayward's respective Bird rights, and can offer them an additional year and higher annual raises than other teams. They can offer five-year deals worth nearly $180 million, while other teams would only be able to offer four years and approximately $132 million.
Still, both the Pacers and the Jazz just lost out on perhaps their best bargaining chips, and George and Hayward lost out on sizable chunks of change.