How Much Will Cooper Flagg Make as an NBA Rookie?

Flagg Captured! 📸@Cooper_Flagg x @dallasmavs pic.twitter.com/wfi9rpEfeJ

— NBA (@NBA) June 26, 2025

He’s also insanely rich for his age, thanks to the NBA rookie wage scale, which has existed for 30 years to give rookies a fair wage based on their NBA draft order and expectations, and to limit holdouts over contract disputes, as it’s a fixed rate per slot with inflation:

• As the player drafted No. 1 overall in the NBA draft 2025, Cooper Flagg will make roughly $62.7 million on a 4-year deal.
• The 2025-26 rookie wage scale descends at a rate where the No. 30 pick, the last in the first round, will make just over $14.0 million.
• The rookie wage scale does not apply to second-round picks, who can negotiate their own contract terms with teams.
• When LeBron James was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, the No. 1 pick made just under $18.8 million, so Flagg is making over triple that amount in 2025.
• When Duke’s Zion Williamson was the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, his rookie deal was worth $40 million just six years ago.

Part of why Flagg is so young is that he reclassified a year early in high school, allowing him to get a head start on his pro career by going to Duke for the 2024-25 season where he had a fantastic freshman year. Cooper Flagg’s stats for his one season at Duke: 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks per game.

But as the NBA cap-ologists have already figured out, if Flagg is as good as advertised in the NBA, then he could be eligible for a 30% supermax extension in 2029 and a 35% supermax extension in 2034. When you combine those three contracts together, it’s roughly $930 million through 2038 when Flagg will be just 31 years old.

If Cooper Flagg is a superstar, the financial path forward is wild.

Rookie Contract
2025-2028: $62.7M

30% Supermax Extension
2029-2033: $359M

35% Supermax Extension
2034-2038: $509M

Total: $930M, and Flagg will be 31-years-old!

— Spotrac (@spotrac) June 25, 2025

Throw in the endorsement money that is sure to come his way, and he could be a billion-dollar earner sometime around his 30th birthday. Maybe not a billionaire yet when you factor in taxes and expenses, but this is still quite incredible for an NBA player.

A potential billion-dollar playing career that we have yet to see any NBA games from, but that’s where the league is financially these days. If you deliver on the court, you’ll be taken care of very well off it.

Will Flagg Capture the Bag?

Flagg’s rookie season will be one of the most anticipated in NBA history. He’s already a strong favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award, and he’ll be on a Dallas roster that could feature Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson, so he’s going to a better team than your average No. 1 overall pick.

But there is a stigma that Duke’s hyped NBA picks rarely live up to expectations, whether it’s Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero, or older picks like Jay Williams, Jabari Parker, and Christian Laettner.

But if Flagg is the real deal, he’s headed for billionaire status.