What Is the NBA Minimum Salary? A Financial Basketball Guide
If you’ve ever wondered what an NBA rookie makes, look no further than Marc Gasol’s $925,258 per year salary. This guide will also cover the salary cap, luxury tax threshold, and rookie salary cap for players. It’s important to remember that the minimum salary you earn is not as extravagant as other players in the league. But, it’s a nice wage to play the sport you love for money. Besides, it may just give you a leg up and make you a better player down the road.
Marc Gasol earns $925,258
When you add up Marc Gasol’s salary throughout a season, you get an idea of how much the veteran center makes. After all, he is the highest-paid player on the roster. But does he deserve his high salary? There are some questions to answer before he re-signs with the Lakers. Gasol has already expressed his desire to play in Spain for his new club.
The Grizzlies, where Gasol began his NBA career, pay Gasol $925,258 each season. He averaged 11.9 points and seven rebounds per game during his rookie season and made the All-Rookie team. During his second season with the Grizzlies, he earned $24,060,000 and earned $925,258 during his final season with the team.
Despite the lack of a minimum salary, Gasol is still one of the few players in the league to sign a 10-year contract worth almost two million dollars. And he earned it twice as much as Steph Curry. So, what’s the catch? If Gasol doesn’t sign another contract, he will be a free agent in the summer of 2017.
NBA rookie salary cap
The NBA rookie salary cap allows teams to sign first-round draft picks to their rosters, which is a big step in terms of player development and talent acquisition. In years past, rookies were subject to large signing fees and could be let go by their teams. However, new rules have made league operations easier and have reduced salary cap controversy. Several rookies have made the biggest impact on their teams’ success this season. Below are the latest examples of rookie salary cap situations.
The rookie salary cap was first implemented in 1994 when the NBA reached an agreement with Glenn Robinson. At the time, Robinson signed a 10-year, $68 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, the largest rookie contract in history every year. In the same year, Chris Webber signed an opt-out clause in his rookie contract with the Golden State Warriors. Those two cases show the drastic differences in the rookie scale.
In addition to the Rookie Salary Scale, the NBA has created a new scale to determine the amount a rookie can earn. The Rookie Scale Amounts are determined by the number of picks in the first round of the 2018 Draft. Therefore, if a player is selected eighth in the first round of the 2018 Draft, he will receive a Rookie Scale amount of $87,000. In addition, teams can still negotiate the Rookie Scale Amounts, even if they are significantly higher than the Rookie Salary Cap.
The luxury tax threshold for players
The luxury tax is a tax that teams must pay on player contracts worth more than $10 million. Teams that are below the threshold will not have to pay the tax. Currently, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors are the only teams paying the tax. It could change as teams make free agent signings. For example, if the Celtics had paid $10 million to a player, they would have been charged $7.5 million in Tier 1 taxes, $8.75 million in Tier 2, and $12.5 million in Tier 3 taxes. That means every dollar of player salaries costs the Celtics around $3.25 million in taxes.
The salary cap and luxury tax threshold will increase in the 2022-23 season. This is a modest increase over what was previously predicted, but the new figures are still significantly higher than the previous ones. The salary cap will increase by $2.5 million, or 9.1 percent, for the 2022-23 season. The luxury tax threshold for 2021-22 was $112.4 million, with a projected salary cap of $136.6 million.
The Warriors’ luxury tax bill has dropped from $32 million to $22.4 million, and they have a $17.2 million trade exception to use. With a team like the Magic, they have the flexibility to get a player of equal or lesser value for their trade exception. The Warriors could trade the luxury tax threshold for another player, such as Orlando Magic forward Terrence Ross. The Magic aren’t bad enough to make the playoffs, but they aren’t bad enough to tank for a top draft pick.
