Jose Alvarado, Pelicans Agree to 2-Year, $9M Contract Before 2024-25 NBA Season

New Orleans point guard Jose Alvarado has agreed to a two-year, $9 million extension, his agent told The Athletic's Shams Charania.

The extension includes a $4.5 million salary for the 2025-26 season and a player option for the 2026-27 campaign, per Charania and ESPN's Bobby Marks.

Alvarado was previously set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025 after playing the upcoming season on a club option worth just under $2 million.

His salary for the 2024-25 season will not change, but the $1.988 million club option will become guaranteed as part of the extension, per Marks.

The 26-year-old has spent all three of his NBA seasons in New Orleans. He averaged 7.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 56 games last season as key bench player for the Pelicans.

The new deal will allow the Pelicans to retain a key member of the rotation for two more seasons, and give Alvarado the chance to decline his club option and test free agency in 2026 should he play his way into a potential raise.

Alvarado shot 41.2 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from behind the arc while making 3.7 three-point attempts per game last season. He also averaged more than one steal per game for the second straight campaign.

He is now set to back up star point guard Dejounte Murray, who was acquired in a July trade with the Atlanta Hawks.

Alvarado missed the first 13 games of the 2023-24 campaign with a right ankle sprain, marking the third consecutive season during which he has spent significant time limited by injury.

The point guard was limited to 54 games amid a rib injury suffered during his rookie 2021-22 season, then played 61 the following season while dealing with a shinbone injury.

The injury bug bit again this summer as Alvarado was helped off the court after suffering an ankle sprain while competing for Puerto Rico during the 2024 Paris Olympics. He returned and played through the injury before his country was eliminated in the group stage.

The Pelicans will hope Alvarado can remain healthy this fall as they look for him to provide depth on the backcourt and potentially help establish this team as a dark-horse title defender this fall.

Alvarado will make his debut as Murray's backup on Oct. 23 as the Pelicans open the season against the Chicago Bulls at home.