00:00Today on Forbes, NBA Draft 2025, projected contracts for Cooper Flagg and other first-round picks.
00:09If there was any doubt that Cooper Flagg would be the first player selected in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night,
00:16it was dispelled within minutes of the event kicking off.
00:19Shortly after NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the 18-year-old star from Newport, Maine,
00:24as the Dallas Mavericks' selection at No. 1 overall, Flagg walked across the stage at Barclays Center in Brooklyn,
00:31exuding a quiet confidence that suggested he was right where he belonged.
00:35After all, Flagg has had scouts hyperventilating over his seemingly limitless talent for years,
00:41all through high school and across his lone season at Duke University,
00:45where he won the Naismith National Player of the Year Award as a freshman
00:48and led the Blue Devils to an ACC championship and a Final Four berth.
00:53As the first pick in the draft, he will likely be guaranteed more than $60 million in salary
00:59over the first four years of his NBA career.
01:03And if Flagg, who has been compared to past teen phenoms LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama
01:08as a franchise-altering No. 1 draft choice, fulfills that promise,
01:12his rookie contract will look like a bargain.
01:16Based on the NBA's rookie salary scale, Flagg can expect to earn almost $14 million
01:20in his first season of professional basketball,
01:23a smidge below the $14.5 million average salary of the 354 players in the league
01:29already signed for the 2025-26 season, according to contract database SpotTrack.
01:36The top pick in the draft is slotted for $11.5 million,
01:39but teams are allowed to surpass that value by as much as 20%
01:44or dip below it by the same percentage.
01:47At least the last two top draft picks have come in above the slot value.
01:52Wembanyama, taken by the San Antonio Spurs in 2023,
01:56and Zachary Rizachet, who joined the Atlanta Hawks in 2024,
02:00after both played professionally in France.
02:03Wembanyama, now 21 years old, pulled in $12.2 million in his rookie season,
02:08the first of a four-year deal worth more than $55 million, including options.
02:14Rizachet, who is now 20 years old, slightly exceeded those figures,
02:18collecting $12.6 million in 2024-25 salary as part of his four-year, $57 million contract.
02:27NBA rookie salaries haven't always worked that way.
02:30The league first implemented a predetermined pay structure for rookies in 1995,
02:34a year after No. 1 pick Glenn Robinson followed a stellar senior season at Purdue
02:39by signing a 10-year, $68 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
02:44In the first draft with the new guidelines,
02:47which severely restricted agents' ability to negotiate salaries for incoming players,
02:52Maryland's Joe Smith was slotted to earn $2 million in his first year
02:55with the Golden State Warriors, according to Real GM.
02:59For first-year players in the NBA,
03:01pay has climbed quite a bit in the decade since Smith's name was called,
03:05with the rookie scale rising alongside the salary cap,
03:08which is tied to league revenue.
03:10In March, the NBA reportedly informed teams
03:13that it expected the salary cap to increase 10%
03:16to $154.6 million for 2025-26,
03:20from $140.6 million this past season.
03:24Under that projection,
03:25which is typically finalized before free agency opens in July,
03:29Flagg could earn nearly $63 million on the court
03:32through the first four seasons of his NBA career.
03:36Salaries also incrementally increased throughout the life of the contract.
03:40Yet even with tens of millions coming Flagg's way,
03:42this first deal represents the tip of the financial iceberg for the newest Maverick.
03:47He has already built an impressive collection of off-court partners,
03:50working with New Balance, Fanatics, and Gatorade.
03:53Flagg won't be the only rookie cashing in, either.
03:57Every first-round selection in this year's draft
03:59is projected to earn a seven-figure salary,
04:02although each slot has a diminishing value.
04:05By going at numbers two and three,
04:08San Antonio Spurs selection Dylan Harper
04:10and Philadelphia 76ers pick VJ Edgecombe
04:13could receive $56.1 million and $50 million
04:16across the life of their four-year deals
04:19if they max out their value.
04:21For full coverage, check out Justin Birnbaum's piece on Forbes.com.
04:28This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:30Thanks for tuning in.
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