JULY 7: Johnson’s contract with the Bucks will pay him approximately 114% of the standard rookie scale amount in the first season of the deal, a notch below the 120% max allowed, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). He’ll make $2,795,294 instead of $2,943,120, netting the Bucks nearly $150K in savings.
JULY 5: Bucks rookie AJ Johnson has officially signed his first NBA contract, according to the NBA’s transaction log.
A 6’5″ guard, Johnson was born and raised in California but opted against playing college basketball stateside. He spent the 2023/24 season in Australia’s National Basketball League, playing for the Illawarra Hawks as part of the NBL’s Next Stars program.
Johnson’s playing time was limited as a Hawk — he logged just 7.9 minutes per game across 25 contests, with averages of 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds and a shooting line of .355/.286/.538. However, he had a strong showing at the draft combine, intriguing teams within his athleticism, and is viewed as a player with plenty of upside. He won’t turn 19 until December, making him one of the NBA’s youngest players heading into next season.
As the No. 23 pick in the draft, Johnson will have a first-year salary of about $2.94MM and a four-year total of approximately $14.76MM if he signed for the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale. While that has yet to be confirmed, it’s rare for a player to sign for less than 120%.
Half of this year’s 30 first-round picks have now formally signed their rookie scale contracts, as our tracker shows.