Three former Kentucky players are about to sign contract extensions.
A trio of former Kentucky Wildcats are likely to accept hefty new NBA contracts totaling $550 million.
According to reports, Bam Adebayo is expected to sign a 3-year, $166 million contract extension with the Miami Heat; Jamal Murray is expected to sign a 4-year, $209 million extension with the Denver Nuggets; and Immanuel Quickley is expected to sign a 5-year, $175 million extension with the Toronto Raptors.
Adebayo, a three-time NBA All-Star and five-time All-NBA Defensive pick, earned a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and will compete for the United States again at the 2024 Olympics in Paris this summer.
Adebayo started all 38 games at Kentucky in 2016-17, averaging 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game for the Wildcats, who went 32-6 and reached the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament before being selected with the 14th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Adebayo graduated from High Point Christian Academy in Pinetown, North Carolina, and was ranked No. 9 overall in the 2016 class by the industry average 247Sports Composite. He selected Kentucky over NC State and Auburn.
Murray won the ESPY for Comeback Player of the Year after returning from a ruptured ACL to help the Nuggets win their first NBA championship in 2023.
Murray, who was named a Second Team All-American by USA Today, a Third Team All-American by the Associated Press, a First Team All-SEC selection, and a member of the SEC All-Tournament Team, made 113 three-pointers, trailing only Jodie Meeks’ single-season record of 117 set in 2008-09, while shooting 40.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Murray, a former 5-star recruit from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was ranked the No. 10 overall prospect and No. 1 shooting guard in the 2015 class by the 247Sports Composite. He chose Kentucky over Oregon in June 2015 before being selected seventh overall in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Nuggets.
Quickley, who joined the Raptors from the New York Knicks in December, finished second in the NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2023.
After averaging only 5.2 points per game as a freshman at Kentucky in 2018-19, Quickley led the Wildcats in scoring (16.1 ppg), 3-pointers made (62), 3-point percentage (.428), free throws made (144), attempted (156), and free throw percentage (.923) on his way to becoming Kentucky head coach John Calipari’s fifth SEC Player of the Year in 2020.
Quickley started only five of Kentucky’s first 16 games, but his addition to the starting lineup changed the course of the season. After converting to a three-guard lineup in a win over Arkansas on January 18, the Wildcats went on to win 13 of their last 15 games.
Quickley, a McDonald’s All-American, graduated from The John Carroll School in Bel Air, Maryland, and was ranked No. 19 overall in the 2018 class by the 247Sports Composite. He selected Kentucky over Kansas and Miami, among others.
