A lot of people are talking about RJ’s contract. It’s definitely not great but it’s not as awful as people are saying. RJ Barrett is not making 30m a year. He is not on a max contract. Lots of people keep saying this, but he isn’t. Here is his yearly salary:
23/24: 23.9m
24/25: 25.8m
25/26: 27.7m
26/27: 29.6m
He has incentives which are earned if he makes All-Star, All-NBA, or All-Defence. These are considered “Unlikely Incentives” right now as he has not accomplished any of these, which means they do not affect his cap hit (~~however, I think they do count if we go into the tax – someone correct me if I’m wrong as I cannot find a source for this but it’s something I remember reading years ago, and could have changed with the new CBA~~ see Edit below). If he does achieve any of those, they become “Likely Incentives” and are included in his cap hit. The following is his incentive amount each year and what his salary/cap hit would be if he does achieve them:
23/24: 2.9m (26.8m)
24/25: 3.1m (28.9m)
25/26: 3.4m (31.m)
26/27: 3.6m (33.2m)
As a % of the cap, here is how his deal stacks, [using the current projection for 24/25 as 142m](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10096236-early-2024-nba-free-agency-storylines-and-landing-spots-for-top-unrestricted-fas#:~:text=The%20league%27s%20current%20salary-cap,-to-year%2C%20either.), and [10% increases to the cap each year after that](https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1642343102470934529). In brackets is the % of the cap if he earns his incentives:
23/24: 17.69% (19.84%)
24/25: 18.17% (20.37%)
25/26: 17.74% (19.89%)
26/27: 17.24% (19.33%)
A rookie max contract is 25% of the cap. A supermax for a rookie (i.e. making all-NBA in your rookie contract) is 30% of the cap. RJ Barrett is comfortably below this, even if he earns all of his incentives. And if he does hit those incentives (All-Star/All-NBA/All-Defence), I think we’d consider him well worth that ~20% of the cap he’d be earning.
[Source of his salary and incentive numbers](https://www.spotrac.com/nba/toronto-raptors/rj-barrett-31560/)
EDIT: Clarification on the unlikely incentives cap/tax implications from Blake Murphy:
[Unlikely incentives do not count toward the cap. They count toward the tax/apron calculation during the season, but they only actually cost you against the tax if he hits them.](https://twitter.com/BlakeMurphyODC/status/1741519139804422365)
by Cheechers23
16 Comments
It’s awful because it is overpaying across several years for someone who statistically has been a liability on the NYK. His efficiency really needs a step change for him to be worth that kind of money. Imagine who else the Raptors could’ve signed with that money? Anyways, I’d like to give the benefit of the doubt and hope that he improves his shooting, but we should all be eyes wide-open here.
It’s a negative contract to make salaries work that’s all.
Who cares about his salary? We’re not signing anyone good in free agency anyways. It’s nice to have some sizeable salaries around for matching trades
With the cap going up it’s not that bad a contract. But I certainly wouldn’t frame it as a positive one
He’s a great buy low candidate. Maybe he unlocks a new level here. Like this deal for both parties but would have loved a protected FRP instead of a SRP
he’ll be worth it.
He’s not a bad contract at this point, especially not for us if we’re going down the rebuilding route. For a contender he might be a “bad contract” because ideally you’re getting more production out of 25M, but for teams like us it’s basically market value since we’re also paying for potential.
He’s only 23 and if he has a break out year like Mikal did with the Nets or Jaylen Brown did when he was 23, then he’d be a steal for us for the next 3 years. We basically have 3 years to evaluate him, and if he doesn’t pan out so be it. Paying him ~5M extra per year isn’t the end of the world if he doesn’t reach his potential if we’re gonna rebuild lol.
Heck, we don’t even need him to break out. If he can get his shooting back to 2021 levels then it’s a huge W in itself.
We were probably close to signing Trent to a similar contract after last year.
I’ll take RJ over Trent at this point.
I don’t care about his salary, he’s always been dedicated to the team he played for (He was awesome during last summer with team Canada) and he’s a fan of the Raptors. What else to ask for??
Maple DD has a chance to turn things around. Still only 23. Rather him over a guy like Wiggins who is 28 .
I think it also means Trent is gone too.
I think given the way the cap is going to evolve, it’s going to be a very middle of the road AAV for a middle of the road level starting SG.
It’s basically a low-risk flier by the Raptors as if he is what he is for the next 3 years you aren’t thrilled but it won’t kill your cap. But he is so young there is still potential for improvement.
Scrubs make 25, he’s better than that.
Caz, can you respond
Well that’s good, makes me feel so much better for paying for a $15/mil a season worth of production…
While I don’t think his contract is terrible it’s funny how many are so positive on RJ. That’ll change lol
I don’t even think it’s a bad contract. RJ Barrett is still only 23 which is crazy to think about. His best days I think are ahead of him, not behind him. I think the way the Raptors are playing this season with a lot of ball movement being emphasized he can thrive under this situation. He’s also been a big factor on a winning team in the Knicks, and you want to get guys like that. I’m very happy about RJ Barrett and think he’s going to be great, he should be in the starting lineup right away.
Knicks fan here lurking on the sub the past few days for obvious reasons. You definitely will get different opinions from different Knicks fans but I never felt his contract was awful. It just wasn’t great. If he keeps doing what he’s doing now for the rest of his contract it’s probably an overpay, but nothing egregious. If he takes a step and improves (which I really still think is possible, admittedly getting less and less likely though) it could be a good contract. His contract is not as bad as some people would have you think and he’s definitely a solid piece for you guys for years to come.