NBA SALARIES 

Click on a team name to go to that team's salary page for detailed information.

Keep coming back to this page, because throughout the summer it will be continually updated with all sorts of interesting lists, tables and useful information with regards the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement! (Yes, in addition to updated team pages as changes happen.)

A Little History

Curious as to how much money NBA teams have spent in the past? Check out the full salary listing previous NBA seasons.

How about how much money NBA teams commit to free agents every frenzied spending season? Click a year below to see how much money each team committed to what free agents that year (does not include rookie scale or minimum contracts).

Traded Player Exception

There was some recent discussion on how exactly a Traded Player Exception can be used, so HOOPSWORLD went to an expert and got the lowdown.

Wondering how a team obtains a Traded Player Exception? Here you go: If a team makes a trade and as a result of that trade is over the salary cap (whether or not they were below it before the trade), and exception is created for the difference in player salaries. The team who sent out the lower amount of salary receives the exception. These exceptions are good for one year from the official date of the trade, cannot be used to sign a player, and are subject to the use restrictions detailed in the link in the previous paragraph.

NBA Rookie Salary Scale

What is it? The NBA Rookie Salary Scale is what determines how much first round picks are paid. Each first round pick signs a two-year contract with two more years that are team options. The numbers for the first, second and third years are pre-set, with the fourth year a certain percentage higher than the third. Obviously, players chosen #1 are set at a higher scale than those picked 30th.

After the fourth year, if no contract extension has been signed (players with these contracts are eligible after year three), the players become restricted free agents if the team chooses to tender them a contract. The tender - commonly referred to as a qualifying offer - is for another set percentage higher than the fourth year number. Players are then restricted free agents and their team can match any contract offer, they can agree to an extension with their current team, or a sign-and-trade can be worked out. If none of those pan out, the player can take the one-year contract and become an unrestricted free agent after year five. Players who take this option also can veto any trade during that fifth season.

Teams can sign their draft picks even if they are over the salary cap level.

Options: Options must be exercised by October 31st for the next season. For example, teams with rookies drafted in 2006 in the first round had until October 31st, 2007 to pick up the third-year option, and until October 31st, 2008 to pick up the fourth-year option.

Why is it needed? The salary scale has been around since 1995, one year after top pick Glenn Robinson forced the Milwaukee Bucks into a 10-year contract worth $68 million. Veteran players and team owners alike didn't like the way rookies were demanding money before ever proving themselves at the NBA level, so getting the two sides to agree on a rookie salary scale was fairly easy.

What are the numbers? Click on each of the links below to see the first round pick salary scale for each season. For the drafts that have already occurred, the player who was chosen is listed next to the slot number. The numbers on these pages are listed in thousands, so "3,617.1" is actually $3,617,100.

The fine print: The numbers on these pages are the 100% values, but a player can sign for as little as 80% of the value listed or as much as 120%. Typically all first round picks sign at the 120% number, and that's the one you will see represented on our team salary pages. For example, that "3,617.1" above is the first season number for Andrew Bogut, the #1 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. To get his actual first year contract number, multiply $3,617,100 by 1.2 to get $4,340,520.

Also, if a player does not come to terms with the team who drafted them that season - if a European player doesn't come over, for example - they are still tied to the salary scale for the year they were drafted. An example is Portland's Rudy Fernandez. He was drafted in 2007 but signed his rookie contract in 2008. His salary number is still from the 2007-08 season, not from 2008-09.