At 12:02 this morning, Anthony Davis Tweeted out the amazing news:
Anthony Davis Signs 5 Year, $145 Million Contract Extension with Pelicans!
The New Orleans Pelicans and Anthony Davis, on the first day possible, have agreed to terms on a mammoth contract extension that should become the league's richest when it goes into effect.
The Pelicans and Davis have agreed to a five-year extension estimated at nearly $145 million that will kick in starting with the 2016-17 season and run through Davis' 28th birthday.
First-round picks from the 2012 NBA draft like Davis are eligible to negotiate contract extensions now through Oct. 31. But like any free-agent deal around the league, they can't be formally signed until July 9, when a leaguewide moratorium on roster business is lifted.
ESPN's Marc Stein said that "Davis' deal will have clause after Year 4 that allows Davis to return to free agency in summer of 2020 if he so chooses."
Davis played one season of college basketball at the University of Kentucky, when he was a unanimous first team All-American and the Consensus National Player of the Year. He also won the USBWA National Freshman of the Year, NABC Defensive Player of the Year and the Pete Newell Big Man Award. Davis led the NCAA with 40 blocks and set Southeastern Conference and NCAA Division I freshman single-season blocked shots records. Davis led Kentucky to a National Championship and was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA tournament.
He left for the NBA and was drafted by New Orleans, then known as the New Orleans Hornets, and was selected that summer to play for the Team USA in the 2012 Olympics. After his rookie season, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. The next season, he became an All-Star for the first time and led the NBA in blocked shots per game.
Davis, 22, averaged an impressive 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 36.1 minutes per game this past season. The third-year superstar has continued to improve, too, increasing his averages in all three stats in each of his first three campaigns in the league.
The bigger question for Davis now is whether the Pelicans can build a championship-caliber roster around him. The team did make the postseason this year and has nice pieces, but Davis still needs help if the Pelicans want to take the next step toward a championship.