Andrew Nembhard's contract extension with Pacers sets up another big payday in 2028
After a stellar postseason run helping steer Indiana to the Eastern Conference finals this May, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard has agreed to a three-year, $59 million contract extension, league sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. There are no options in the deal, sources said, which is one season shorter than the four-year, $70-plus million structure Nembhard was eligible to sign.
That’s an interesting, albeit small, zag from a general trend around the NBA this offseason, as players and their agents have leaned more toward securing guaranteed money than in years past, many not wanting to risk the choppy waters of free agency — when, not too long ago, conventional wisdom suggested a young, rising talent should aim to return to the open market as soon as possible and cash in once again. Klay Thompson and Gary Trent Jr. mark two cautionary tales of not taking lucrative extensions. Meanwhile, the champion Celtics extended four of their top seven rotation players — dating back to Jrue Holiday’s spring payday — including Sam Hauser’s recent four-year, $45 million deal the sharpshooter conceptually could have surpassed as a free agent next summer.
Nembhard, 24, still had two years left on his rookie deal after the Pacers selected him No. 31 in 2022, but Indiana is declining his 2025-26 club option, sources said, in order for Nembhard’s extension to kick in after this upcoming 2024-25 campaign. That mechanism both allows Nembhard to effectively receive a near-$16 million raise for the '25-26 season, while setting up the third-year combo guard for another big contract at the conclusion of his extension in 2028, when Nembhard will be just 28 and theoretically entering his prime.
If all goes to plan, and Indiana continues its climb up the East hierarchy behind Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, Nembhard’s next deal could very possibly come with the only NBA franchise he’s known. Nembhard was the Pacers’ clear-cut third-best player during the playoffs, drilling game-winners and stepping up when Haliburton was hampered by injury. Nembhard won’t have a shortage of suitors, either, should the Pacers’ build grow too expensive, or Nembhard ultimately desires his own chance to run a backcourt.
The Spurs will be one team to monitor for Nembhard moving forward, sources said, after San Antonio registered trade interest in Nembhard this offseason. Before San Antonio brought Chris Paul to organize the Spurs’ offense around Victor Wembanyama, sources said San Antonio called various teams around the league exploring veteran guards who have still yet to enter their primes. Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland was another talented ball-handler the Spurs called about, sources said, although Cleveland has rebuffed any inbound trade interest for Garland to date.
Paul, 39, only joined San Antonio on a one-year pact, and for the stabilizing presence the future Hall of Famer will surely bring, he is not the long-term pick-and-roll partner the Spurs are looking to pair with Wembanyama for the next decade. And as long as that role remains undetermined, playmakers from Trae Young — who had the Spurs on his wishlist of next teams, sources said, if Young had moved this summer — to Josh Giddey, who also held an interest in joining San Antonio, sources said, before Oklahoma City moved Giddey to Chicago in exchange for Alex Caruso, will point to the Spurs as a desired home alongside Wemby.
San Antonio did select 6-foot-6 UConn guard Stephon Castle with the No. 4 pick, and the Spurs had identified and targeted Castle with that selection for the majority of the pre-draft process, sources said. Castle, though, has already shown his capability of thriving in dual-guard backcourts, like he did for the two-time reigning champion Huskies.
