Monday represents more than the deadline for all 30 NBA teams to reduce their rosters to no more than 17 players -- 15 full-time players plus two players on two-way contracts.
The day before the regular season starts is also the last day a team can sign a 2019 first-round pick to a contract extension. If no deal is reached by then, those players will likely become restricted free agents next summer.
This means that by 6 p.m. ET on Monday we will know if, for instance, Cameron Johnson and De'Andre Hunter will be under long-term contracts with Phoenix and Atlanta, respectively.
To date, seven players from the 2019 draft have signed rookie extensions: Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, RJ Barrett, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson and Jordan Poole, who joined the group two days before the deadline. An additional 17 players are still eligible to extend.
For comparison's sake, a league-record 11 players signed rookie extensions last offseason, with five of those deals coming on deadline day.
Here are the key players on rookie deals -- along with a handful of veterans also facing a Monday extension deadline -- and why their deals will or will not get done, keeping in mind that a player cannot sign a five-year extension unless it is for the maximum salary allowed -- similar to the extensions that Williamson, Morant and Garland all signed.
Breaking down the major rookie extension candidates
Cameron Johnson
With Jae Crowder requesting a trade, Johnson is in line to start along with Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton. Last season, those five played 42 minutes together, and the Suns recorded a plus-29.5 net efficiency in those limited minutes.
In 16 starts last season, Johnson averaged 16.3 points on 49% from 3 compared to 11.2 points in his 50 games off the bench. According to Cleaning the Glass, Johnson played 68% of his minutes at power forward last season. Johnson shot 43.3% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season, third best among 73 players with 250 attempts per Second Spectrum tracking, trailing only Luke Kennard and Desmond Bane.
Why a deal might get done: Let's start with leverage. The Suns all but handed the starting power forward job to Johnson with the news that Crowder would sit out training camp while awaiting a trade. Johnson's stats -- and thus his future salary -- will likely only increase with a full-time role this season. The Ayton saga aside, the Suns' front office has also been aggressive in the past in signing their own players to extensions, reaching deals with both Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet last year.