Rudy Gobert's Contract Breakdown: Understanding the Financial Terms of the NBA Star's Deal
Rudy Gobert's Contract Breakdown: Understanding the F...
By Jason Bolton August 17, 2024 00:03
Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert has found his name in the news not only for making stops but also for agreeing to a major NBA contract. A large chunk of that $205 million is due to the fact that Gobert was one of the highest-paid players in a league-wide context where teams engage with significant financial restrictions. This piece will delve deeper into the finer details of Gobert's contract, breaking down different aspects of it and comparing this deal to other big men players in his position.
Salary Structure
Base Salary
This season, Rudy Gobert is making $35 million annually on his five-year deal worth a total of $205m that he initially inked with the Utah Jazz in December 2020. The deal starts with a base salary averaging $41M per year. Gobert's base salary is $41,000,000 in the 2023-24 season, projected at $43,827,586 during the 2024-25 season, and up to $46,655173 for his player option year, in which he would have just turned 34.
Incentives and Bonuses
The contract for Gobert does not include any performance-based incentives or bonuses, but the structure of National Basketball Association contracts usually offers ways to earn even more money based on production. These could be things such as being named to an All-Star team or to the All-NBA teams or leading in certain statistics. However, details on those incentives within Gobert's contract were not reported publicly.
Contract Length and Duration
His current contract runs five years from the 2021-22 season to the end of the 2025-26 season. The length of the contract is important because it matches well with max contracts in the NBA, which gives players long-term financial security while also giving teams a prime core player.
Guaranteed vs. Non-Guaranteed Portions
Gobert has a full-guaranteed contract, meaning he is in line to receive the entirety of his deal regardless of whether they play or are hurt. This is nothing new in NBA contracts, especially for guys like Gobert, who are proven commodities and have played at a high level over an extended period. The total, including all guaranteed money at signing, was $205 million and 2 dollars, meaning Gobert will get every penny of this contract within his life span.
Salary Cap Implications
Cap Hit and Team Structure
The contract to Gobert will place the Timberwolves in a salary cap predicament for several years. That salary will represent nearly 30.14% of the Timberwolves total cap space in 2023-24. As his salary increases, this number is expected to climb to 31.17% in the 2024-25 season. A contract of that magnitude, occupying such a huge slab of cap space and severely squeezing an organization's payroll to the point where it struggles to sign another well-qualified talent, drives home the importance of team-building around Gobert.
Competitive Landscape
Looking at it through the NBA lens, he's close to being overpaid, as high salaries are much more common in the NBA. He currently makes the 15th most money in the league this year and is third amongst all NBA centers. That ranking is an indication of where the market sees elite centers or at least those who excel defensively.
How He Stacks Up Among Top NBA Centers
Nikola Jokić: (Denver Nuggets): $264 million max contract
Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers): $196 million over four years
Jokic and Embiid, for the record, make considerably more due in part to their production being a class or two above Gobert's thus far during his career.
Future Contract Extensions/Renegotiations
As Gobert enters the latter stages of his current contract, conversations about extensions and renegotiations will also likely begin. Considering his age (31) and performance level in the iteration, the Timberwolves would be well-suited to give him an extension to keep with them past 2025-26.
The size of Rudy Gobert's contract is evidence to the league of what he has been able to offer in his young NBA career. His base salary is worth $2 million less than the previous version. Still, he's receiving that money regardless, and it will count against the Timberwolves' cap for years into his future or potential absence from their roster. With the league constantly changing, Gobert's contract will be used as a measuring stick for future negotiations, and his salary will be one of Minnesota's most important assets going forward.
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