Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic signed a record breaking deal that will keep him in Dallas for the next five years.
On Tuesday, August 10, the team made it official that Doncic signed $207 million supermax extension. This is the largest guaranteed rookie extension in NBA history, and the 22-year-old is the first player to ever be eligible for the designated rookie max extension because he has twice been voted first-team All-NBA, ESPN reported.
Doncic himself was even awestruck by the deal.
"It's a really special moment here. Thank you to Dallas for offering me this. I still kind of don't know what to say because I never imagined this happening. I was only dreaming to only play in the NBA, but now I can sign an extension with the Dallas Mavericks for five more years, which I never had a doubt about. I always wanted to sign this," he said in a press conference.
Underscoring how important the young guard is to the team, Mavs owner Mark Cuban, general manager Nico Harrison, and coach Jason Kidd flew to Doncic's native Ljubljana, Slovenia, to present him the contract offer.
Doncic has been in his hometown since returning from the Tokyo Olympics. He led Slovenia's men's basketball team to the bronze medal match, but they fell against Australia.
The Mavs star told reporters on Tuesday that he didn't know what he would spend his $207 million on, but his teammate JJ Redick started ribbing him on Twitter to pay his $1,700 debt from a card game.