NBA draft picks salary: How much money does No. 5 overall pick in 2023 draft make?

The 2023 NBA Draft tips off from the Barclays Center on Thursday, June 22 as the next generation of basketball stars look to hear their names called. At this point, it's a foregone conclusion that the San Antonio Spurs, with the number one overall pick, will make French phenom Victor Wembanyama their next franchise cornerstone. But from the second overall pick onward is where things will get interesting.

Being drafted high doesn't just carry bragging rights, it undoubtedly has an impact on a rookie's bank account once their first check hits as an NBA professional. Let's take a glance at the projected salary for this year's fifth overall pick, with the selection currently held by the Detroit Pistons.

According to the 2023-2024 NBA Rookie Scale, the first-year salary for the fifth overall pick nets out to $6,549,100. Keep in mind that this number could vary as first-round picks are eligible to sign for as much as 120% and as little as 80% of the rookie scale. For reference, last year's fifth overall pick, Jaden Ivey, had a base salary of $7,252,200 for his rookie year.

Moving forward, the fifth overall pick holds a base salary of $6,876,300 in Year 2, and $7,203,800 in Year 3, with the latter being a team option. For Year 4 (option) and Year 5 (qualifying offer), the pay scale shifts to that of a percentage increase over the prior year's salary.

So in this scenario, the salary in the fourth year would represent a 26.7% increase, which equates to $9.12 million. For the fifth-year qualifying offer, a 42.6% increase is observed which would mean the base salary would be roughly $13.09 million.

Typically at this point in a player's career, the fifth overall pick would agree to a contract extension with the team that drafted them, or, agree to a new contract extension with another franchise through restricted free agency. Hence, the fifth-year base salary is rarely, if ever, actually played through.

  
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