2026 NBA Draft star could sign nearly $70M deal boosted by league’s new TV deals
The night of the 2026 NBA Draft marks a pivotal moment for young athletes who have dedicated years to basketball and are now seeking financial rewards. The current edition presents record values, indicating that there are considerable amounts at stake, but also significant risks of losses.
This dynamic occurs due to the structure of the NBA’s rookie salary scale, which directly ties a player’s compensation to his position on the team. Thus, being chosen in the top positions not only means prestige, but also a substantial financial advantage that can shape an athlete’s earnings for several years.
Salaries for rookies in this draft are expected to reach unprecedented figures. Names like BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, projected top-three picks, could sign four-year deals worth $69 million, $61 million and $55 million, respectively.
The salary evolution is notable when compared to the recent past. Just a decade ago, first-round NBA draft pick Ben Simmons received $26 million over four years. This drastic difference reflects the exponential growth of the league’s salary cap, which has jumped from $70 million to the current $165 million over the same period, driven by an unprecedented expansion in media revenues and the NBA’s global popularity.
Last season, Cooper Flagg, who was the first overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks, signed a four-year contract worth $62.7 million.
The continued increase in the salary cap has been largely supported by the NBA’s lucrative media rights contracts. The current deal, with Amazon, Disney and NBC, totals $76 billion over 11 years, injecting a vast amount of capital that is directly reflected in athletes’ salaries.
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The NBA’s expanding media revenues are poised to drive elite veteran earnings to even greater heights. Renowned players such as Jayson Tatum, forward for the Boston Celtics, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, already have contract extensions worth more than US$70 million per season. If the salary cap growth trend continues, the league’s top stars could surpass the $100 million per year mark before 2030.
Although many of the rookies are guaranteed millions of dollars regardless of the position they are selected at, the difference of a few draft placements can, in practice, significantly redefine their financial future.
This disparity is evident when comparing values: the total value of a contract for the first overall pick ($69 million) is more than double that of the eighth overall pick ($34.4 million). Similarly, a player who was projected to be in the top four (around $50 million) and drops to 20th ($19.5 million) could see his earnings decrease by more than $30 million.
Real cases demonstrate this reality. In 2023, Cam Whitmore was tipped to be a top-seven pick in the NBA draft, but ended up being selected in 20th position by the Houston Rockets, which resulted in a loss of approximately $20 million in the total value of his contract.
Athletes chosen in the first round of the NBA draft receive guaranteed four-year contracts, including an option to renew for a fifth year. Although only the first two years are fully guaranteed, the majority of newcomers selected in starting positions usually fulfill their entire four contract years, ensuring full receipt of the expected amounts.
To highlight the magnitude of the values involved in this selection process, the Spotrac website, specialized in contract monitoring, presents salary estimates for each pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
- Pick 1: $69,003,336
- Pick 2: $61,754,203
- Pick 3: $55,482,355
- Pick 4: $50,035,729
- Pick 5: $45,330,803
- Pick 6: $41,183,243
- Pick 7: $37,612,922
- Pick 8: $34,474,684
- Pick 9: $31,704,992
- Pick 10: $30,125,362
- Pick 11: $28,980,481
- Pick 12: $27,867,300
- Pick 13: $26,791,235
- Pick 14: $25,761,857
- Pick 15: $24,763,972
- Pick 16: $23,532,928
- Pick 17: $22,364,820
- Pick 18: $21,257,017
- Pick 19: $20,310,173
- Pick 20: $19,503,712
- Pick 21: $18,942,247
- Pick 22: $18,396,395
- Pick 23: $17,864,614
- Pick 24: $17,346,830
- Pick 25: $16,839,371
- Pick 26: $16,287,511
- Pick 27: $15,822,480
- Pick 28: $15,727,868
- Pick 29: $15,613,602
- Pick 30: $15,500,706
The second round is scheduled to begin on Wednesday at 8 pm ET.
