NBA Salaries
Click on a team name to go to that team’s salary page for detailed information.
| Atlantic Division | Central Division | Southeast Division |
| Boston Celtics | Chicago Bulls | Atlanta Hawks |
| Brooklyn Nets | Cleveland Cavaliers | Charlotte Bobcats |
| New York Knicks | Detroit Pistons | Miami HEAT |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Indiana Pacers | Orlando Magic |
| Toronto Raptors | Milwaukee Bucks | Washington Wizards |
| Northwest Division | Pacific Division | Southwest Division |
| Denver Nuggets | Golden State Warriors | Dallas Mavericks |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Los Angeles Clippers | Houston Rockets |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | Los Angeles Lakers | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Phoenix Suns | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Utah Jazz | Sacramento Kings | San Antonio Spurs |
Free Agent Classes, By Season
| 2017 |
Instant Numbers
Check out the top 50 highest paid players.
Total NBA team salaries for the current season and the next four.
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).
| 2011 |
Trade History
A history of NBA trades, from 2006-present.
Minimum Salaries
Click this link to see the NBA’s minimum salaries for players in the December 2011 CBA. The minimum for a player is variable depending on the number of years of NBA experience.
Traded Player Exception
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 use restrictions.
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.
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
| 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
| 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
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 four years, but not 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 was based on his draft slot in the 2008-09 rookie scale, not the one from 2007-08. Conversely, if a player comes over after four years he is no longer bound to the salary scale and can be signed for any amount the team has available to spend. If the team is over the cap, they can use their Mid-Level Exception to sign the player, as the Spurs did with Tiago Splitter in 2010.
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