New NBA Rumors on Brandon Miller, Ausar Thompson, Brandin Podziemski & Rookie Contract Extensions

Less than two weeks away from the start of training camps around the NBA, several players from the 2023 draft class could get new contracts in the near-future.

Appearing on Friday's episode of NBA Today , ESPN's Shams Charania explained Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets and Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons will start to have "more and more conversations" with their clubs in the "upcoming days and weeks."

Charania added Thompson's situation, in particular, has "optimism" with the Pistons. He also noted cited Brandin Podziemski (Golden State Warriors), Cason Wallace (Oklahoma City Thunder), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Milwaukee Bucks) and Anthony Black (Orlando Magic) as players to "keep an eye on) as far as rookie extensions go.

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Victor Wembanyama, Keyonte George and Amen Thompson are the only first-round picks from the '23 class that have signed extensions thus far.

From that trio, Wembanyama is the only who received a max extension projected to be worth $252 million over five years. The San Antonio Spurs star opted not to go for the supermax that could have pushed the total value to $303 million to give the club financial flexibility in the future.

Using Keith Smith of Spotrac's projected contracts for the other members of the 2023 draft, Miller is likely to be the highest-paid player with an estimated deal worth $200 million over five years.

Miller has some added leverage over the Hornets after they traded LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges early in the offseason. Those deals indicated the club views Miller and Kon Knueppel as their top two players going forward.

The Hornets are projected to be $62.4 million under the tax for the 2027-28 season with their savings from trading Ball's contract.

Podziemski's development over his first three seasons has made him an invaluable piece for the Golden State Warriors. He set career-highs in scoring average (13.8 points) and field-goal percentage (45.5) last season.

It also helps Podziemski's leverage that he is one of the few young contributors on a Warriors roster led by mid- to late-30s veterans like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.

Ausar Thompson's contract comes at an interesting time for the Pistons, who are still trying to figure out a solution to their ongoing standoff with Jalen Duren. He remains a limited offensive player, but is also coming off a 2025-26 season in which he was named to the All-Defensive first team and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Jaquez is another interesting extension candidate because it's unclear how the Bucks feel about him after acquiring him from the Miami Heat as part of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.

The 25-year-old Jaquez has been very good primarily off the bench over the past three years in Miami, but he might be used in a starting role for Milwaukee that could change his production.

Oklahoma City seemed to signal a Wallace extension could be coming after shedding money after trading Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins. Wallace shares a similar profile to Thompson in that their impact is primarily felt on defense, though the former has been a better three-point shooter with a 37.4 percent success rate.

The deadline for players to sign rookie extensions is 6 p.m. ET on Oct. 19. All 30 training camps will open on Sept. 29, which could be when we start to see more movement on these contract talks.