The NBA’s minimum salary is one of several figures that changes from year to year at the same rate as the league’s salary cap. If the cap increases by 5% from one season to the next, the minimum salary will rise by the same amount.
That means that even though we don’t know yet exactly where the minimum salaries will end up for the 2026/27 season, we can make an educated estimate. The NBA’s most recent projection for ’26/27 called for a 7% increase. That works out to $165,472,000, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s minimum salaries.
[RELATED: NBA Minimum Salaries For 2025/26]
A player’s minimum salary is determined in part by how much NBA experience he has — a veteran who has 10+ seasons under his belt is eligible for a significantly higher minimum salary than a rookie would be.
Based on the current 2026/27 cap estimate, next year’s rookie minimum salary will surpass $1.36MM, while the minimum for a veteran with 10+ years of service will approach $3.9MM.
Here are the current minimum salary projections for the 2026/27 season, using a $165,472,000 cap:
| Years of Experience | Salary |
|---|---|
| 0 | $1,361,971 |
| 1 | $2,191,889 |
| 2 | $2,457,013 |
| 3 | $2,545,391 |
| 4 | $2,633,765 |
| 5 | $2,854,703 |
| 6 | $3,075,647 |
| 7 | $3,296,585 |
| 8 | $3,517,528 |
| 9 | $3,535,038 |
| 10+ | $3,888,544 |
It’s worth noting that these figures will only apply to players who sign new minimum-salary contracts in 206/27. The ’26/27 salaries for players with multiyear minimum deals will look a little different. For example, a rookie who signed a two-year deal worth the minimum ahead of the 2025/26 season would have a second-year salary of $2,150,917 for ’26/27, as we outline here.
We’ll update these projections later in the season if the NBA adjusts its cap estimate for the 2026/27 season, and then again next year when the league officially sets the ’26/27 cap.