Darius Garland signs rookie max extension with Cavs

After having the best season of his career, Cavs point guard Darius Garland just got paid.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Klutch Sports, Garland agrees to a five-year, $193 million rookie max extension, which can become worth $231 million with All-NBA escalators.

This is the largest contract in team history. 

Last season, the 22-year-old Garland, who was a first-time All-Star in 2021-22, averaged a career-best 21.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 8.6 assists per contest. 

The third-year guard is the face of the franchise and led the team to their best record since 2017-18 at 44-38 as Cleveland fell to the Nets and Hawks in the play-in tournament. Garland played like one of the best guards in the NBA last season, and he appears to have the character and work ethic to only get better.

Cavs sign first-round pick Agbaji and second-round pick Mobley:

On Saturday, the Cavs announced that they have signed guard Ochai Agbaji (6-5, 215), who was selected by Cleveland with the 14th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Agbaji started in all 39 games this past season as a senior at Kansas, averaging a Big-12 leading 18.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in a team-high 35.0 minutes.

Also, the team announced on Saturday that they have signed rookie forward Isaiah Mobley to a two-way contract, and on Sunday, Cleveland announced that they have signed guard R.J. Nembhard to a two-way contract.

Nembhard (6-5, 200), who went undrafted out of Texas Christian University in 2021, originally signed a two-way contract with Cleveland on Oct. 16 and appeared in 14 games for the Cavaliers this past season.

The 6-10 Mobley, who was selected in the second round(49th pick) of this year’s draft, appeared in 32 games (all starts) as a junior for USC this past season, averaging team-highs in points (14.2) and rebounds (8.3) in 34.1 minutes. His brother Evan Mobley was an NBA All-Rookie First Team selection for the Cavaliers this past season and was selected with the 3rd pick by the Cavaliers in the 2021 NBA Draft.