Sports Reference Blog

NBA Contract Data at Basketball-Reference

Posted by Neil on August 15, 2012

Basketball-Reference is proud to introduce our new NBA contract data, courtesy of Storytellerscontracts.com's Jeff Kramer.

The main elements we've added are contract tables on player and the team pages, complete with future payroll commitments for future seasons, the amount of guaranteed money each player is owed, and "payroll notes" describing the conditions of each player's deal. (Think of it as Cot's Contracts, but for the NBA.)

Check out the main contracts portal here and be sure to explore your favorite team's financial situation. Have fun!

15 Responses to “NBA Contract Data at Basketball-Reference”

  1. DSMok1 Says:

    This is great!

    I can now automate player valuation with VORP! (Except, of course, the colors coding for options aren't readable by Excel... Oh well...)

  2. wiLQ Says:

    Great stuff as usual!
    BTW, how often or when will you update it?
    Does it depend on Jeff Kramer's work?
    I'm asking because Dwight is still with Magic...

  3. Neil Says:

    #1 - Sorry about the color codes, not sure if there's a way for Excel to read the underlying html and pull that...

    #2 - I think it's based on Kramer updating. We're working on a "last updated" note to let people know when it was current. The Dwight stuff will obviously be up there soon.

  4. Justin Kubatko Says:

    WiLQ wrote:

    BTW, how often or when will you update it?

    My guess is that it will be updated 2-3 times per week.

    I'm asking because Dwight is still with Magic...

    There was an issue with the Howard trade that needed some clarity, but he should be on the Lakers payroll in the next day or two.

  5. wiLQ Says:

    Thank you for the information.
    Speaking of which... do you know anything about the 2012 Olympic updates?
    It seems to me they stopped a week before the end of games... not to mention basketball pages don't even exist.

  6. Gregory Says:

    This might have been the last thing you needed to keep me from ever going to another site. Good stuff.

  7. Wallaby Says:

    TBH there are better websites with NBA contract data than Storytellers. A lot of mistakes there, e.g. Gortat's ETO or Scola's salary number.

  8. Chris Says:

    How is that guys like Dana Barros and Horace Grant still show up on a team's payroll?

  9. Justin Kubatko Says:

    Wallaby wrote:

    TBH there are better websites with NBA contract data than Storytellers. A lot of mistakes there, e.g. Gortat's ETO or Scola's salary number.

    If you'd like to point out other mistakes I will gladly bring them to Jeff's attention.

  10. Matt Moore Says:

    So... any way we can get this stuff yanked into play index?

    "Players between 2004 and 2006 who made >$10 million where number of years on contract = 1?"

  11. DSMok1 Says:

    How many years of data do you have that you feel are complete? Looking back, you have data back a long time, but the note that data may be incomplete.

    Just wondering--could do a lot of interesting salary analysis.

  12. Justin Kubatko Says:

    Matt Moore wrote:

    So... any way we can get this stuff yanked into play index?

    "Players between 2004 and 2006 who made >$10 million where number of years on contract = 1?"

    We only have current contract data, so the query above would not be possible.

    DSMok1 wrote:

    How many years of data do you have that you feel are complete? Looking back, you have data back a long time, but the note that data may be incomplete.

    I have salary data for most players dating back to the 1985-86 season, although I am missing all data for the 1986-87 and 1989-90 seasons.

    Also, just as a general comment, here is an important thing to keep in mind: collecting proprietary salary data is an inexact science.

  13. Justin Kubatko Says:

    Chris wrote:

    How is that guys like Dana Barros and Horace Grant still show up on a team's payroll?

    I believe that they are unrenounced free agents, which means that they still count against the cap (but they don't factor into the luxury tax calculation).

  14. Headi Says:

    you are correct Justin.

    if a player retires he automatically creates a cap hold with his last team. teams can renounce them on season basis. which only happens if a team is under the cap and needs the space.

  15. Dan Says:

    DSMok1 wrote:

    I can now automate player valuation with VORP! (Except, of course, the colors coding for options aren't readable by Excel... Oh well...)

    You can by using 'full formating' mode