NBA Draft 2025: Projected Contracts For Cooper Flagg And Other First-Round Picks

Forbes

Duke’s freshman phenom went No. 1 and can earn nearly $14 million next season—not including endorsements. It could be the beginning of a billion-dollar career for the 18-year-old.  If there was any doubt that Cooper Flagg would be the first player selected in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday night, it was dispelled within minutes of the event kicking off.  Shortly after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the 18-year-old star from Newport, Maine, as the Dallas Mavericks’ selection at No. 1 overall, Flagg walked across the stage at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, exuding a quiet confidence that suggested he was right where he belonged. After all, Flagg has had scouts hyperventilating over his seemingly limitless talent for years—all through high school and across his lone season at Duke University, where he won the Naismith National Player of the Year Award as a freshman and led the Blue Devils to an ACC championship and a Final Four berth.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2025/06/25/nba-draft-2025-projected-contracts-for-cooper-flagg-and-other-first-round-picks/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

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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