How Much Does an NBA Scout Make? Most diehard NBA fans can name the majority of general managers around the league, and some can identify a handful of the top agents. However, scouts are virtually anonymous despite playing a crucial role in an organization’s decision-making process.

There are millions of basketball players around the world who dream to make it to the big league but only a couple of hundred of them really do that.

The best young prospects are well known and receive a lot of attention while they are still in school. On the other hand, there are many of today’s best NBA players who seem like they came out of nowhere.

Those players are proof that some basketball scout somewhere did a great job.

Let’s take for example the two-time MVP and 2021 NBA Finals MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak didn’t have any professional experience when he was drafted as the 15th overall pick at the 2013 NBA Draft.

The 19-year-old Antetokounmpo came to the NBA from a club called Enosi Filathlitikou Athlitikou Omilou Zografou that competes in the Greek third division.

Eight years later, that same player takes his team to the top of the NBA.

Another great scouting job was done when the Denver Nuggets drafted Nikola Jokic. The Serbian who was 2021 NBA MVP, was drafted as a 41st pick at the 2014 NBA draft out of Mega Vizura from his native country of Serbia.

Unlike Antetokounmpo, Jokic was a pro, playing in the ABA League where he actually won the MVP award. Still, some NBA scout has done a great job taking a gamble on a young European prospect who was labeled as lazy and obese.

Of course, the players themselves are the most deserving for their success but still, there was a scout who recognized their talent, said a good word at the right place and everything went well from that point on.

How Much Does an NBA Scout Make?

So to be an NBA scout seems like a dream job which includes traveling overseas, having great sits on basketball games, and a chance to tell everybody that you found a talent that change the scope of the league. Many think that anyone can watch a game and anyone can be right about a few players, but having success in this job over the long haul is more difficult than people think.

But based on the salary, is the scouting job really a dream job?

While there are no unanimous statistics, the average salary of an NBA scout ranges from $17,930 to $70,050. The median salary is $31,000. However, everything depends on the experience and education of a particular scout. Just like in any other profession, experience is extremely important. There could be individuals, who receive more than $70,000 annually, but the number of such scouts is extremely low. You need to be patient, have decent knowledge and a degree to understand the basics of the game, and know where and when to look for a talent that can be a game-changer.

What most people do not know is that being a basketball scout is much more than just watching the game.

“More time is spent on gathering information than watching basketball, and I don’t think a lot of people realize that. You’re trying to figure out what a guy does in his free time, what kind of activities he’s interested in, and who he is as a person. I would talk current and past coaches, friends of the family, handlers, and anyone else who would have information about the prospect,” says Predrag Drobnjak, a former Seattle Supersonics, Atlanta Hawks, and Los Angeles Clippers center, who currently works as an NBA scout in Europe says.

“When you’re watching a game live, you aren’t necessarily looking at the game. You’re looking at how the player warms up, how he reacts when the team is losing, how he reacts to the coach yelling at him, how he interacts with his teammates, whether he has confrontations with the referee or fans, how he acts during timeouts, how he handles being benched. There are so many things that you’re watching for that have nothing to do with the player’s skills,” adds Drobnjak.

Primoz Brezec, another former European center who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, and Charlotte Bobcats shares the same story.

“Sometimes I feel like a private investigator. Most of my job is gathering intel. I call anyone I can. I call equipment managers, doctors, physiotherapists, teammates, friends, coaches. I want to find out as much as I can about a player. Is he completely healthy? Does he smoke? Does he drink? Does he have a good relationship with his wife? These are things that we want to know before investing in a player.”

“I can’t emphasize enough how much of this job is doing character research on players, and that’s really difficult info to get. You need sources who have information, and then you need to be able to decode the information to see how much is true, how much is exaggerated and how that own individual’s biases may taint the information. It’s not just finding sources, it’s finding reliable sources,” Brezec says.

When we talk about scouts and their salaries it is necessary to point out that there are several types of scouts in basketball, which for the most part determine the payment. Let’s take a look at them.

University Scouts

The majority of NBA players come to the league from college basketball. Given the fact that there are hundreds of teams in the country playing at different levels, there are probably thousands of scouts who are trying to find what they need.

College basketball is not the main “supplier” only for the NBA but for the world of basketball in general. Many players who do not make the NBA still want to pursue a basketball career and are searching for their dream in different parts of the world.

International Scouts

Basketball has become a global sport so talented players can be found on any continent. From Manu Ginobili and Leandro Barbosa from South America to Joe Ingles and Dante Exum from Australia or Yao Ming or Rui Hachimura from Asia, there are many examples of great international talent. Europe doesn’t even need to be mentioned as the last two NBA MVPs have come from this continent.

The range of tasks for these scouts is quite complex, because a large amount of personal and medical data has to be collected, and it is not always easily accessible. Plus, traveling abroad is an adventure in itself.

“Being a scout can be a lot of fun, but if you’re doing it long-term, there are more cons than pros. It definitely takes a toll on your family. With that said, I think it’s something that you have to go through and the best way to prepare for a front-office job. As a scout, you’re in touch with so many different people – players, agents, GMs, team presidents – and you create a vast network of people who can help you in the long run. I think it’s excellent preparation”, Marin Sedlacek, a global scout for the Philadelphia 76ers says.

Personnel Scouts

These guys are focused on working with the NBA and the G-League. The personnel scouts tend to be heavily involved in preparing for exchanges and the free agency market, focusing on players who are directly in or near the league. These scouts need to know everybody. From current players to executives, personal coaches, family members, everyone who can provide information that can lead to making the right move at the right time.

These scouts are already in the arena a few hours before the game, watching the players warm-up, sometimes not seeing a minute of the actual game. They also linger in the arena after the game, waiting for the media to finish their work in order to collect the necessary information.

Analytics Department

As analysts have become more important in the team-building process, most teams have acquired their own analytics department. Data science has taken over any industry and basketball is not an exception.

These people are usually responsible for preparing analyzes and reports to the general manager on the given topics. A high level of technical skills, knowledge of both mathematics and programming is required. These companions rarely travel and for the most part, do not participate in the traditional scouting system mentioned above.

But not all of them have stayed behind the scenes. Miami Heat coach Eric Spoelstra is a great example of that. Starting as that smart guy in front of the computer providing the needed data, Spoelstra became a head coach who led the Miami Heat to two NBA championships.

Game scouts

Game Scouts are probably the beginners in this business. The task of the game scout is to keep track of the upcoming rivals of his team before a personal meeting. It is recommended to see at least 4-5 games of the opponent, including the most recent games.

Then, based on the scout’s observations and data, a scout report is prepared and sent to the assistant coach responsible for pre-game planning. Every assistant coach has approximately five NBA teams that he is obligated to follow.

Each assistant coach is expected to come up with a basic strategy/plan for the upcoming game, based at least in part on the work of the game scout. Then the assistant gives the plan to the head coach a day or two before the game. The head coach leaves his own mark on him and then manages the game based on the results of the overall work.

Scouts are usually given decent seats to play based on natural exchange. The scout will try to outline the whole game, then hop on a plane to another city, or go to a hotel and write a report. Scouts travel a lot, don’t sleep much, and watch too much basketball.

If you have ever watched an international tournament of players Under 16 or Under 18 years old, the standings are packed with scouts from all around the world.

What is the worst part of being a basketball scout?

We all think that everyone else has an easier and more pleasant job than ourselves, so from other people’s perspective being a basketball scout is really cool but what scouts say about the worst part of their job.

“The travel is definitely the worst part of the job. The scouts who are single couldn’t care less about traveling. They’d be fine traveling 300 days of the year. They can adjust because they don’t have many responsibilities. When you’re married and have kids, that takes a toll on your family. You aren’t spending the necessary amount of time with your wife and family. It takes a toll on your body too. You typically aren’t eating healthy or sleeping right,” one scout says.

“When you’re doing pro-personnel scouting, it’s not as bad because you’re in major cities with big airports and a lot of flights. When you’re doing college scouting or international scouting, it’s more difficult because you’re trying to get to places that aren’t near an airport or there’s no direct flight. That’s when the travel is exhausting.”

Do agents or player managers ever try to influence scouts?

A good word or a bad one can make a difference in any industry. So with basketball being a huge business, scouts are often under pressure.

Asked if that is the case around the NBA, one scout has a lot to say.

“I was in Los Angeles talking to this guy, who was a handler of a handler, and he started offering me money to hype up his late-first/early-second draft prospect. I don’t know if he understood my job or role, but it was clear that this guy was used to offering people money as a way to influence them or get what he wants. It was a bizarre conversation. I’m not going to accept money and be manipulated. Maybe some other scouts do? I don’t know. I wasn’t going to let it impact my process. I just found it sort of amusing. Prior to working as a scout, I never knew that sort of thing existed. I think we all assume that money is exchanged at the college level and there’s money changing hands between agents and players, but I never thought of a scout being offered money like that. That surprised me.”