Wendell Carter Jr. has developed into a quality center who fits how the Orlando Magic want to play — a plus defender who can score around the rim and stretch the floor from 3 — so the Magic locked him up.
Carter and the Magic agreed to a three-year, $59 million contract extension, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN and soon after made official by the Magic.
Carter has two years, $22.8 million remaining on his current four-year contract, now this $59 gets tacked on, meaning he is under contract for the next five years. Because of the six-month rule, Carter cannot be traded at the deadline this year, not that the Magic were planning to do that anyway.
Orlando has now locked up their frontcourt with Franz Wager and Jonathan Isaac agreeing to contract extensions over the summer. Paolo Banchero is the only part of that frontcourt core who has yet to sign an extension, but his max deal is unquestionably coming.
The Magic are hoping that Carter can stay healthy. He played in 55 games a season ago and has never appeared in more than 62 games. After last season, Carter underwent surgery on his left hand, something the team called preventative as a steel plate was put in to support a previous fracture.
Carter averaged 11 points and 6.9 rebounds playing 25.6 minutes a night during last regular season. His minutes went up slightly in the playoffs (his first playoff appearance), and he averaged 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds a game.
Orlando is betting he gets to play in a lot more playoff games in the coming seasons.
