Ben Simmons is one of the best prospects in the NBA Draft. (Getty)
With the salary cap expected to rise by an estimated $24 million this summer, rookie contracts have become increasingly valuable. Essentially, each team is going to gain a max contract if they are not over the cap.
Top college prospects go from being struggling college students to millionaires in one night. While an NBA rookie contract means players are well taken car of financially, the deals function as a bargain for NBA teams. According to Sporting News, the rookie pay scale is not tied to the salary cap. The current salary structure will stay the same until 2020.
This means while NBA salaries are about to rise with the higher salary cap, rookie players will be locked into bargain level contracts for as many as five years. According to RealGM, this year’s number one pick will make $4,919,300 this season.
The first two years are locked in for each first round pick. In years three through five, the team has the option to exercise that year’s contract for the player still on his rookie deal. The difference between being a first or second round pick is massive. Second round selections do not have guaranteed contracts.
Here’s a look at the NBA rookie pay scale based on where a player is drafted courtesy of RealGM. The amounts for the first three years are listed below. If teams agree to pick up years four and five on a player’s deal, the salary is bumped up a percentage from the previous season based on where they were drafted.
1 $4,919,300 $5,140,700 $5,362,100
2 $4,401,400 $4,599,500 $4,797,600
3 $3,952,500 $4,130,400 $4,308,300
4 $3,563,600 $3,724,000 $3,884,400
5 $3,227,100 $3,372,300 $3,517,500
6 $2,931,000 $3,062,900 $3,194,800
7 $2,675,700 $2,796,100 $2,916,500
8 $2,451,200 $2,561,500 $2,671,800
9 $2,253,300 $2,354,700 $2,456,100
10 $2,140,500 $2,236,800 $2,333,100
11 $2,033,500 $2,125,000 $2,216,500
12 $1,931,900 $2,018,800 $2,105,700
13 $1,835,200 $1,917,800 $2,000,400
14 $1,743,500 $1,822,000 $1,900,500
15 $1,656,200 $1,730,700 $1,805,300
16 $1,573,500 $1,644,300 $1,715,100
17 $1,494,800 $1,562,000 $1,629,300
18 $1,420,100 $1,484,000 $1,547,900
19 $1,356,100 $1,417,200 $1,478,200
20 $1,301,900 $1,360,400 $1,419,000
21 $1,249,800 $1,306,000 $1,362,200
22 $1,199,900 $1,253,800 $1,307,800
23 $1,151,900 $1,203,700 $1,255,600
24 $1,105,800 $1,155,500 $1,205,300
25 $1,061,600 $1,109,300 $1,157,100
26 $1,026,300 $1,072,500 $1,118,700
27 $996,700 $1,041,600 $1,086,400
28 $990,700 $1,035,200 $1,079,800
29 $983,400 $1,027,700 $1,071,900
30 $976,300 $1,020,200 $1,064,200