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What is the NBA minimum salary in 2026?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 17, 2026. Last updated October 17, 2026.

What is the NBA minimum salary for 2026-27?

It depends on years of service. The 2026-27 minimum is $1,357,763 for a player with zero years and $3,876,529 for a player with 10 or more, per Hoops Rumors. The scale that applies to a contract is the one for the season in which the contract begins, per the NBA collective bargaining agreement. The minimum salary is defined in Article I of that agreement, and the scale is in Article II, Section 6.

Source for every row: Hoops Rumors. The salary cap these figures sit under is $164,961,000, per the NBA, as the cap guide explains.

How does a minimum contract count against the cap?

For most players it counts at the full salary. The exception is a veteran on a one-year deal. The CBA says a player with three or more years of service who signs a one-year, 10-day or rest-of-season minimum contract is paid by his team, and the league reimburses part of it from a league-wide fund, per the CBA (Article IV, Section 6(h)). The reimbursement equals the difference between his minimum and the minimum for a player with two years of service.

The effect, per Hoops Rumors: a veteran signed for one year at the minimum counts against the cap at the two-year figure of $2,449,421, even when his minimum is higher. The CBA sets the salary of such a contract at the lesser of the minimum or the part not reimbursed, per the CBA (Article VII, Section 3(f)). The rule covers only one-year contracts, not multiyear deals. That is why veterans are cheaper to sign than their listed salary suggests.

What if a player signs after the season starts?

The minimum is prorated. For a contract covering less than the full regular season, the minimum equals the annual figure multiplied by the days left in the season over the total days, per the CBA definition of Minimum Player Salary. A 10-day contract works the same way, using the number of days in the contract. A player signed in January is paid a fraction of the table above.

Can a team over the cap sign a player to the minimum?

Yes. The minimum player salary exception lets a team sign a player, or acquire a contract by trade, for up to two seasons at the player's minimum with no bonuses, per the CBA (Article VII, Section 6(i)). The second season must also be the minimum for that season. The CBA's apron table, which lists the transactions that cap a team's payroll at the first or second apron, does not list this exception. The minimum salary exception is how teams over the tax line fill the end of the roster. The other exceptions are in the exceptions guide.

How is the minimum different from a two-way deal?

A two-way contract is not a minimum contract. It pays half of the zero-years minimum, no matter how many years the player has, and it cannot include bonuses, per the CBA (Article II, Section 11). For 2026-27 that is $678,882 for a full season, per Hoops Rumors. The split between the NBA team and the G League affiliate is in the two-way contract guide.

A training camp deal with an Exhibit 10 clause is different again. If the team waives the player before the regular season and he spends 60 consecutive days with the team's G League affiliate, he can receive a bonus between $5,000 and the maximum set in the CBA, per the CBA (Article II, Section 3(s)). The clause adds a bonus and nothing else. The rules are in the training camp contract guide.

Where does the rookie scale fit?

First-round picks are paid on their own scale, which is a separate schedule from the minimum. The rookie scale guide lists the 2026-27 amounts. A second-round pick is not on that scale.

What does the minimum mean for a player and an agent?

The table is a floor, and the cap charge is a negotiating point. Agents notice that teams compare a veteran's cap charge, not his listed salary, when they fill the last roster spots. A two-year minimum deal gives the player a second season at the minimum for that season, but the reimbursement rule does not apply to it. The right choice depends on whether the player expects a raise next summer.

Before signing, confirm the player's years of service on the league's records and the scale year the contract uses. The professional basketball guide covers the other routes into the league.