That rookie scale is a Luol Deng 2016 contract 

his first* Miami stint

The league revenue increased from \(3.8 billion in 2010 to \)14.3 billion in 2026. That why players salaries have increased as much they did.

Back in the late 90s, Jordan made \(60m over 2 years. Adjust for inflation & that's \)120M in today’s money.

Every player of before the 90s can say the same about the 2010s guys, and the 2010s guys will say it for the 2030s guys. Ut’s some of why a lot of those guys are needlessly salty about the next generation of players. Hopefully this crop of 2010s players is less insufferable about it

Inflation plays a big role. \(67.1m in 2010 is worth over \)100m now.

14,748,000 million? That’s Elon Musk money

FYI LeBron took a $15M paycut on that deal so he could play with Wade and Bosh. A better comparison would be to a player who was making the full max in that era.

Adjust4inflation (or don’t)

Coffee used to cost a quarter back in my day!!!!

And to think AJ is taking a paycut compared to BYU!

inf*Lé*tion

Crazy how much rookie contracts have changed over the years.

For the 1989 season, an Orlando newspaper published an article about all the players in the NBA who made OVER a million dollars. Out of 341 players that year, 64 made over a million. 

So while Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal and Madonna’s Like a Prayer were dominating MTV, Magic Johnson was killing it with 3.1 million a year while Michael Jordan was the sixth highest paid player in the league with 2.5 million. 

Wasn’t fan of that first move to Miami but I’ll give him credit for taking a payout at that time

No one is mentioning LeBron took a pay cut but this is still insane lol

Says as much about the inflation of the dollar as it does about the growth of the league

Y’all gonna hate this, but that’s way too much

That’s crazy

Basketball more popular now than in past

League is going to be hurting when the major stars that lifted them last decade retire like harden, curry, james, durant. They only have 3 seasons max each unless they hella stretch it out.

that’s basically what Gary Trent Jr. is getting

Umm NOBODY is going to want the first pick next year. In a weak draft class? That player’s going to be salary dumped before their contract is up.

Now if only the pay for the rest of the jobs would actually keep up with the cost of living.

Luke Kornet will make more next year than Tim Duncan made in 2013 when SAS won their last championship

I did not realize rookies were getting paid that much now. Obviously he’s number 1, but still. In my head none of them were breaking $10 million a year

LeBron wasn’t taking as much as he could in MIA, he took less so he could form the team

Well to be fair, inflation has been a real bitch so 67 million in 2013 is equivalent to about 100 million in 2026 buying power. So the numbers match but LeBron absolutely made “more money” during that contract. (According to the labor statistics inflation calculator)

Rookie contracts are no longer cheap btw. League min is way below a rookie contract. We are going to see teams cut rookies very early and even then the cap hold is a massive part of your salary cap. Rookies make so much money now and honestly more money then some veterans while heavily under producing in comparison. Rookie value is going to be very low in a couple years time. If you want to win cheap good rookies are no longer the way to go.

Also a testament to the collapse of the US Dollar’s value.

Need to adjust for inflation

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Well AJ is better so that adds up

As ratings and attendance is down. I don’t get how this league survives. Kudos I guess