With the NBA set to pen a massive media rights deal with NBC Universal, ESPN, and Amazon estimated to be worth $7 billion a year annually, NBA superstars could stand to benefit from it.
As NBA salary cap expert explained, With this massive deal, the cap can lock up a 10% increase per season, starting from the 2025-26 season. If this projection is correct, the cap would go up to $200 million in the 2028-29 season, and the 35% max salary would be $72 million for that season.
If it’s a five-year deal, the salary in the fifth year of that contract would be $95 million, making the contract worth $419 million, easily surpassing the largest contract in the NBA today, which belongs to Jaylen Brown.
Some fun numbers!
The NBA getting $7B per year for media rights will likely lock in 10% cap growth (that is the max the cap can go up) per season starting in 2025-26.
If so, the cap will top $200M in the 2028-29 season. A 35% max salary that year projects to be $72M.
The…
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 22, 2024
The NBA expects players like Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, and Anthony Edwards to become the future faces of the league. If they keep performing at a high level, they could negotiate substantial contracts at various points in their careers. It’s a financially lucrative period for NBA players.
Recently, it was revealed that Luka Doncic is eligible to sign a five-year, $346 million contract extension with the Dallas Mavericks in 2025, after being named to the All-NBA First Team. This contract extension would be the largest in NBA history.
Whereas, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can sign a shorter contract, which would be for four years, worth $294 million. The final year of the contract in 2031 would pay him a whopping $81.7 million, the largest single-season NBA salary in history so far.
NBA Players Making Big Money In The Future
The NBA signing lucrative media rights deals will help the players make even more money in the future. This deal will have a trickle-down effect on the league, as teams will have more money to spend, and players of all different skill sets and talents will be better compensated in the future.
Bleacher Report recently predicted some of the future contracts NBA superstars could sign after the new media rights deal goes into effect. Jayson Tatum could sign a five-year, $314 million contract extension this summer, which would make him the first player to have a $300 million contract in NBA history.
Whereas Nikola Jokic could sign the first $400 million contract in 2028 if he picks up his player option in 2027. This contract would be worth $419 million across five years.
As for Anthony Edwards, he is still currently on his first rookie extension contract and will sign a new one very soon which will carry him through to 2029. If he waits till 2028 to extend his contract and makes an All-NBA team, he will be eligible to sign a five-year, $460 million contract, which at that point, could be the largest in NBA history.
The NBA could see the shattering of their largest contract records on a regular basis thanks to the new media rights deal.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
