Sabonis, Kings agree to 5-year, $217M extension

Sacramento Kings All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis has agreed to a massive contract renegotiation and extension for a total of $217 million over five seasons — including $195 million in new money, his agents Greg Lawrence and Jason Ranne of Wasserman told ESPN on Saturday night.

The sides reached a formal agreement late on Saturday night, sources said.

The Kings are using salary cap space to deliver an additional $8.6 million to raise his 2023-2024 earnings to $30.6 million — and add a four-year extension that’ll give Sabonis that nearly $200 million more over the life of his contract.

Sabonis, 27, isn’t taking the full money available to him. He discussed with the Kings’ leadership his desire to prioritize the franchise’s roster building flexibility over fully maximizing his earnings, team officials told ESPN.

As the Kings were finalizing the new deal for Sabonis, they agreed also to re-sign starting forward Harrison Barnes on a three-year, $53 million contract, and reached a deal with EuroLeague star Sasha Vezenkov on a three-year, $20 million deal. Contract renegotiations are rare in the NBA.

Oklahoma City agreed to a renegotiation with Russell Westbrook in 2016 after Kevin Durant left for Golden State in free agency, and the Houston Rockets did a less lucrative renegotiation with James Harden in 2016 too.

Since arriving in a 2022 trade from Indiana for All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton, Sabonis has been central to the Kings’ renaissance. In a season that Kings returned to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, Sabonis made third-team All-NBA with averages of 19.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists. Only Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had more triple-doubles than Sabonis.

Sabonis was the starting center for the most efficient offense in NBA history, becoming one of only two players ever to averaged 12 rebounds and five assists on 60 percent shooting, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.