By now, you've likely had a chance to pore through last night's NBA draft results, taking stock of which teams did well and which teams made some questionable choices. As we move from the draft into free agency, it's also worth considering how last night's first round picks will affect NBA teams' payrolls going forward. Clubs with a pair of first-rounders, or high lottery picks, will see their draftees take a chunk out of any cap space they have heading into free agency.
The NBA's rookie scale dictates that specific cap holds are assigned to each pick heading into July. For instance, the first overall pick, Anthony Davis, will represent a cap hold of $4,286,900 on the Hornets' books. Rookies are permitted to sign for up to 120% of that amount, however, and almost all of them do. So Davis' eventual first-year salary is more likely to be $5,144,280 (120% of his rookie scale amount).
In the chart below, we've listed each of the 30 draft picks, along with their cap holds and their likely first-year salaries. Now, not all of these players will receive the amount in the "likely salary" column here — Evan Fournier could be stashed overseas and not join the Nuggets for a year or two. Miles Plumlee, meanwhile, could be a candidate to sign for less than the full 120%, since he seemed like a reach for the Pacers at No. 26. But the cap holds, at least, represent the amounts on teams' books heading into free agency.
The rookie scale chart from Larry Coon's CBA FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
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