MW The No. 1 overall NBA draft pick will make nearly $70 million overnight, as historic TV deals keeping money flowing into NBA
By Weston Blasi
There's so much money at stake in the NBA draft that falling a few slots could cost a player $30 million
AJ Dybantsa of the BYU Cougars is set be a top pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
The first round of the NBA draft begins tonight, with young players who have honed their basketball skills for years ready to be rewarded for all their hard work. There's a lot of money at stake for the 2026 draft class - which means there's also a lot to lose.
That's because the earlier a player is selected in the draft, the more money he stands to earn, thanks to the NBA's rookie wage scale. This system predetermines a player's compensation based on their draft position. So being selected early isn't just about bragging rights - it's also a major financial windfall that can determine a player's earnings for the next several years.
Salaries for this draft class will reach new records, as the top three picks will each be eligible to sign deals worth $69 million, $61 million and $55 million, respectively, over four years.
Consider that just 10 years ago, top NBA draft pick Ben Simmons made $26 million over four years, a fraction of the wages of the players joining the league in 2026. That's mainly due to the NBA's rising salary cap, the allotted fund used to pay players on each team, which was $70 million 10 years ago and is now $165 million.
Last year's No. 1 overall pick, Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks, signed for $62.7 million over four years.
The NBA's media-rights deals - including its current 11-year deal with Amazon (AMZN), Disney $(DIS)$ and NBC $(CMCSA)$, worth $76 billion - have been driving that salary-cap growth year over year. The NBA was able to sell broadcast rights to its games to new TV partners like Amazon and NBC parent Comcast under the deal, further raising the league's revenues and subsequently the salary cap for players.
The NBA's exploding media revenue will also soon push elite veteran salaries past a staggering milestone. Veteran superstars like Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander already own extensions that top $70 million per season. And if the NBA salary cap maintains its current growth pace, top-tier stars will clear the $100 million-per-season threshold before the decade ends.
Still, while many of these incoming rookies will make millions regardless of where they are selected in the draft, dropping even a few spots can drastically alter their financial futures.
The difference in total contract value for the No. 1 overall pick ($69 million) and the No. 8 overall pick ($34.4 million) is more than twofold, while a player who falls from a projected top-four pick ($50 million) down to pick No. 20 ($19.5 million) sees their potential earnings drop by more than $30 million.
And moments like that do happen. In 2023, then-prospect Cam Whitmore was projected to be picked in the top seven of the NBA draft, but eventually fell to the Houston Rockets at No. 20 - leading him to miss out on about $20 million in total contract value.
First-round picks in the NBA draft will receive four-year guaranteed contracts, with an optional fifth season. Rookies selected in the first round are awarded a four-year contract with their new team, but only the first two years are fully guaranteed. That said, most rookies selected early in the draft typically play out all four years of their deal, and therefore get every dollar owed to them on their contracts.
To illustrate how much money is at stake, here are the estimated contracts for each pick in the 2026 NBA draft, according to contract-monitoring site Spotrac.
Pick Number Total Contract Value (4 Years) 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 first round of the 2026 NBA draft will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday. Round two will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday.
-Weston Blasi
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 23, 2026 17:34 ET (21:34 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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