Trio of Wildcats expected to sign new deals totaling $550 million
Three players who were once members of Kentucky are about to sign contract extensions.
Three former Kentucky Wildcats are anticipated to ink enormous new $550 million NBA contracts.
It is anticipated that Bam Adebayo will sign a three-year contract extension with the Miami Heat worth up to $166 million; Jamal Murray will sign a four-year contract extension worth up to $209 million with the Denver Nuggets; and Immanuel Quickley will sign a five-year contract extension worth up to $175 million with the Toronto Raptors.
Adebayo, who earned a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is a three-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA Defensive pick. This summer, he will play for the United States in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
After averaging 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game for the Wildcats, who went 32-6 and to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament before being selected with the 14th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Adebayo was named Second Team All-SEC, to the SEC All-Freshman Team, and to the SEC All-Tournament Team during his one and only season at Kentucky in 2016–17.
After graduating from Pinetown, North Carolina’s High Point Christian Academy, Adebayo picked Kentucky over NC State and Auburn, ranking ninth overall in the class of 2016 according to the industry average 247Sports Composite.
Following his recovery from an ACL tear, Murray was named the ESPY for Comeback Player of the Year and helped the Nuggets win their first-ever NBA championship in 2023.
In addition to being selected to the SEC All-Tournament Team, First Team All-SEC, Third Team All-American, and Second Team All-American by USA Today, Murray also shot 40.8 percent from beyond the arc and made 113 three-pointers, which is second only to Jodie Meeks’ single-season record of 117 set in 2008–09.
A former 5-star recruit hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Murray was ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect and No. 1 shooting guard in the 2015 class according to the 247Sports Composite. He chose Kentucky over Oregon in June of 2015 before becoming the No. 7 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Nuggets. Quickley, who was traded to the Raptors from the New York Knicks in December, finished second in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2023.
Quickley led the Wildcats in scoring (16.1 ppg), made 3-pointers (62), 3-point percentage (.428), free throws made (144), attempted (156) and free three percentage (.923) in 2018–19, despite averaging just 5.2 points per game as a freshman at Kentucky. Quickley went on to become Kentucky head coach John Calipari’s fifth SEC Player of the Year in 2020.
While Quickley only started five of the team’s first sixteen games, his return to the starting lineup proved to be the game-changer for Kentucky, as the Wildcats won 13 of their final fifteen games. Quickley, a McDonald’s All-American who was ranked No. 19 overall in the 2018 class by the 247Sports Composite, chose Kentucky over several other schools, including Kansas and Miami, after switching to a three-guard lineup in a win at Arkansas on January 18.