NBA rookie salaries

The NBA s Collective Bargaining Agreement has a firm rookie salary determined by a mechanism called the rookie wage scale, where it assigns a limit as to how much a rookie gets paid before he steps on the court for his first professional game.

The 2024 draft class is considered a weak batch but nonetheless, details of their salaries wont change.  Whether the top pick Ilves up to its billing or becomes a bust, they ll get the same fixed amount over the duration of their first NBA contract, no matter if he s picked by the best or the worst team in the league.

Typically, rookies sign a four-year contract which is determined by the overall salary cap.  A percentage of the salary cap is tied by the wage scale to the value of all rookie contracts for the coming season.

This years top pick is projected to receive $57 million in four years with an average annual salary of $12.6m.  That puts him within the salary range of proven big men Steven Adams, Kelly Olynyk and Bobby Portis, Jr.  30th pick Baylor Scheirman of Boston gets an annual salary of $2.5m between 2014 to 2024, the rookie salary for the number one pick had increased by $8 million.  Comparing Atlanta s top pick this year Zaccharie Risacher who gets $12.6m, 2014 s top pick Andrew Wiggins only got $4.6m on his rookie year.

After the top 30 picks in the first round, the rookie wage scale will not apply to the second-round picks.  Teams are allowed to sign these players to contracts favorable to them.  Pick 31 thru 60 usually sign deals with minimal or no guaranteed money and most will sign two-way deals that allow teams to divide their season between the G-League and the NBA.

Since the league permitted teams to sign players in the second round to whatever deals they like, the LA Lakers  55th pick received a guaranteed 4-year $7.9 million contract, because, as they say, of his mindset and potential as point-of-attack defender.   He s also their top priority with their revamped player development program, they said.

Why not give priority to revamp their basketball operations department?

But in all fairness to the 55th pick who was prematurely pushed into the league, he has the advantage of playing alongside a future hall of famer father who can teach him all the finer points of the game, including flopping.

This will become a novelty in the NBA but the PBA was the first to have the father-and-son duo of Sonny and Dudut Jaworski play together professionally.  And yes, powerplay was also in the works.