Nik Stauskas was one of the hottest players in the NBA Draft Thursday, impressing scouts enough to move from a possible 2nd-round pick to the No. 8 selection. He could have been an even bigger winner if the Sacramento Kings had moved to Seattle, where he would have paid $0 in state taxes instead of the $576,128 California stands to take from him (see table below of the $114 million guaranteed to 1st-round picks Thursday).
In fact, California stands to net $1.4 million from guaranteed contracts from Thursday’s draft – more than twice that of any other state. The only other states who could get over half a million are the teams with the two picks. Despite the attempts by former classmate Governor Scott Walker to lower taxes, Wisconsin could still receive $635,573 from Jabari Parker (No. 2 pick) and Ohio could receive $501,232 from Andrew Wiggins.
Value Add player of the Year Shabazz Napier was one of five first round picks lucky enough to go to a state without state taxes (Florida and Texas). All 30 first round picks receive a set salary for their first two years even if someone is injured and never plays. The team and player are allowed to negotiate 20 percent higher or lower, but the figure is almost always about 20% higher than what is listed on the table below meaning this year’s first round picks will receive close to $137 million in the next two seasons. An explanation of how the taxes were estimated appears below the table.
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| Drafted | Team | Player | Guaranteed | State Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Lakers | Julius Randle PF | $5,108,000 | $633,132 |
| 8 | Kings | Nik Stauskas SG | $4,679,400 | $576,128 |
| 28 | Clippers | CJ Wilcox SG | $1,891,200 | $205,298 |
| California total taxes | $1,414,558 | |||
| 2 | Bucks | Jabari Parker SF/PF | $8,402,500 | $635,573 |
| Wisconsin total taxes | $635,573 | |||
| 1 | Cavaliers | Andrew Wiggins SF | $9,391,100 | $501,232 |
| Ohio Total Taxes | $501,232 | |||
| 6 | Celtics | Marcus Smart PG | $5,595,300 | $290,956 |
| 17 | Celtics | James Young SG/SF | $2,853,600 | $148,387 |
| Massachusetts total taxes | $439,343 | |||
| 5 | Jazz | Dante Exum PG/SG | $6,160,600 | $308,030 |
| 23 | Jazz | Rodney Hood SF | $2,199,000 | $109,950 |
| Utah total taxes | $417,980 | |||
| 9 | Hornets | Noah Vonleh PF | $4,301,600 | $249,493 |
| 26 | Hornets | PJ Hairston SG | $1,959,300 | $113,639 |
| NC total taxes | $363,132 | |||
| 14 | Suns | TJ Warren SF/PF | $3,328,500 | $149,036 |
| 18 | Suns | Tyler Ennis PG | $2,710,900 | $120,997 |
| 27 | Suns | Bogdan Bogdanovic SG | $1,902,800 | $84,309 |
| Arizona total taxes | $354,342 | |||
| 3 | 76ers | Joel Embiid C | $7,545,500 | $231,647 |
| 12 | 76ers | Dario Saric PF | $3,688,000 | $113,222 |
| Pennsylvania total taxes | $344,868 | |||
| 13 | Timberwolves | Zach LaVine SG | $3,503,500 | $336,857 |
| Minnesota total taxes | $336,857 | |||
| 16 | Nuggets | Jusuf Nurkic C | $3,003,900 | $139,081 |
| 19 | Nuggets | Gary Harris SG | $2,588,900 | $119,866 |
| Colorado total taxes | $258,947 | |||
| 21 | Thunder | Mitch McGary C | $2,385,900 | $124,839 |
| 29 | Thunder | Josh Huestis SF | $1,877,400 | $98,143 |
| Oklahoma total taxes | $222,982 | |||
| 11 | Bulls | Doug McDermott SF/PF | $3,882,000 | $194,100 |
| Illinois total taxes | $194,100 | |||
| 15 | Hawks | Adreian Payne PF | $3,161,800 | $188,028 |
| Georgia total taxes | $188,028 | |||
| 20 | Raptors | Bruno Caboclo SF/PF | $2,485,300 | $152,900 |
| Ontario total taxes | $152,900 | |||
| 22 | Grizzlies | Jordan Adams SG | $2,290,600 | $114,530 |
| Tennessee total taxes | $114,530 | |||
| 4 | Magic | Aaron Gordon PF | $6,803,100 | $0 |
| 10 | Magic | Elfrid Payton PG | $4,086,300 | $0 |
| 24 | Heat | Shabazz Napier PG | $2,110,900 | $0 |
| Florida total taxes | $0 | |||
| 25 | Rockets | Clint Capela PF/C | $2,026,600 | $0 |
| 30 | Spurs | Kyle Anderson SF | $1,863,800 | $0 |
| Texas total taxes | $0 |
The taxes were calculated using the Tax Foundation table for each state, and the Canada Tax Revenue (link here). The actual figure for each player will go up from this figure due to most teams paying the maximum 120 percent of these figures, but will go down due to all deductions taken by each player. The figure for each player levels out some due to accountants having to allocate some of each player’s income to other states when he plays away games (so California will not actually get all $1.4 million from Julius Randle, CJ Wilcox and Stauskas because of their away games, but they will make up for some of that by getting a fraction of all the other players when they play games in California).