{"id":768631,"date":"2026-06-29T10:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T10:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/768631\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T10:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T10:33:10","slug":"how-much-will-top-pick-aj-dybantsa-make-hint-its-an-all-time-nba-rookie-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/768631\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Will Top Pick AJ Dybantsa Make? (Hint: It’s An All-Time NBA Rookie Record)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a good time to be a college basketball player. Now that name, image, and likeness deals are commonplace, players can earn mid-six figures easily, and some top stars become millionaires before they even set foot in a classroom. It’s opened up opportunities for players who will never make the NBA, and it’s amplified earnings potential for the league’s incoming draft classes. For AJ Dybantsa, that means record-setting money.<\/p>\n

The Washington Wizards drafted Dybantsa No. 1 overall out of BYU. He’s set to make about $15.2 million this season, with his four-year deal worth $69 million. That’s an NBA record for an incoming rookie, topping the $68 million Glenn Robinson<\/a> signed as the top pick in 1994.<\/p>\n

Robinson’s deal was over a whopping ten seasons, and the league quickly changed how long players could sign for as they came out of college. Now, first-round draft picks entering the league do so on a rookie salary scale. Teams can pay between 80 and 120% of that scale, though most opt for the latter as a gesture of goodwill towards what is hopefully a franchise-defining star.<\/p>\n

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AJ Dybantsa with NBA commissioner Adam Silver (Arturo Holmes\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Most analysts agree this draft has four “surefire” picks. Alongside Dybantsa, Darryl Peterson (No. 2 to the Utah Jazz on a $61.8 million deal), Cameron Boozer (No. 3, Memphis Grizzlies, $55.5 million), and Caleb Wilson (No. 4, Chicago Bulls, $50 million) project to be stars for their respective teams. They’re all making $50 million or more, the first time the top four picks in the draft will earn at least $50 million on their rookie deals.<\/p>\n

As you might guess, the difference between the No. 1 pick and No. 30 picks is more sizable. Koa Peat, the 30th selection in this year’s draft, is set for a $3 million salary this season and $15.5 million for the duration of his contract.<\/p>\n

These rookie contracts are four-year deals, though the final two seasons include team options. It’s rare a team gives up on a draft pick after two years, but occasionally we do see teams waive a guy if they just know it’s not going to work out.<\/p>\n

More likely, though, Dybantsa will have a solid start to his career in Washington alongside Anthony Davis<\/a> and Trae Young<\/a>. Young just signed a $212 million extension<\/a> with the Wizards\u2014a financial windfall Dybantsa hopes to one day achieve.<\/p>\n

For now, he’ll have to be satisfied with a larger deal than any rookie who’s ever come before him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s a good time to be a college basketball player. Now that name, image, and likeness deals are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[17322,14727,49,201068,1716,48,17316,273109,254842,459,82,18727],"class_list":["post-768631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-aj-dybantsa","tag-anthony-davis","tag-ca","tag-caleb-wilson","tag-cameron-boozer","tag-canada","tag-darryn-peterson","tag-glenn-robinson","tag-koa-peat","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-trae-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}