How Cooper Flagg can make a staggering $930 million after being drafted No. 1

New York Post

8 hours ago

If all goes according to plan, Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg will look a lot like Scrooge McDuck throughout his 20s and 30s.
Spotrac projects that if No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is a superstar –– meaning he hits certain All-NBA Team thresholds, as well as MVP voting criteria –– Flagg will earn $930 million by the time he is 31 years old.
Flagg will first sign a lucrative four-year, $62.7 million rookie contract with the Mavericks that runs through the 2028-29 season.
It's those future deals, though, that will require teams to back up the Brinks trucks for him.
After his rookie deal ends, he could sign a supermax extension worth $359 million from the 2029-30 season through the 2033-34 campaign.
3 Cooper Flagg will be a rich man throughout his 20s after being drafted at 18 years old.
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That contract that would count for 30 percent of the team's salary cap.
If he's as good as everyone suspects, potentially a multiple-time MVP candidate, he would be eligible for another supermax extension in 2034 worth $509 million that would take him through the 2038-39 season
That deal would count for 35 percent of the team's salary cap.
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In order to qualify for the supermax, a player must make an All-NBA team or have won Defensive Player of the Year or MVP in the last three years, according to the league's collective bargaining agreement.
This nearly $1 billion figure does does not include endorsements, and Flagg will surely sign a massive shoe deal now that he is in the NBA.
3 Cooper Flagg will be saying ca-ching throughout his NBA career.
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He previously latched on with New Balance to wear their shoes, although he had to don Nike during his freshman year since Duke has a sponsorship deal with the company.
Flagg is already rich as he reportedly made $28 million in NIL money in his lone season in Durham, with his deal with New Balance worth $13 million and a Fanatics deal worth $15 million.
3 Cooper Flagg is already a millionaire, and he's going to be a billionaire in his 30s if all things go to plan.
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Flagg, 18, could be a on billionaire path before he even plays in his first NBA game, and making things even more interesting is that he will begin his career in a state — Texas — with no income tax.
Compared to being drafted by one of the league's four California teams, he's saving $123.69 million in state income taxes alone if he signs all of his contracts with the Mavericks.
Flagg reclassified in high school, skipping a grade so he could get to the NBA faster.
He is the youngest player to be drafted No. 1 overall since LeBron James in 2003.
James achieved billionaire status in June 2022, 19 years after being drafted.