After several one-and-done players excelled on the college stage last season, most pundits have maintained that teams can’t go wrong with any one of the top four prospects in this year’s NBA draft class. But even with the razor-thin margins between A.J. Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson—all of whom should hear their names called near the top of the first round on Tuesday night—the differences in the contracts they end up signing will be as large as ever.

A wage scale has dictated the value of every rookie deal since the 1995 draft, with first-rounders signed to four-year contracts that include two fully guaranteed years along with two years that are subject to team options. Each pick has a designated slot value, and teams can sign their first-round picks for between 80% and 120% of the corresponding figure, although most offer 120% as a gesture of goodwill.

That means that Tuesday’s No. 1 overall pick—whoever it turns out to be—is expected to sign a four-year, $69 million deal with the Washington Wizards, including a $15.2 million salary for the player’s rookie season, according to a projection by the contract database Spotrac that was confirmed by a league insider. Those numbers drop to $61.8 million total and $13.6 million in Year 1 for the second pick, held by the Utah Jazz, and continue to gradually decline to $15.5 million over four years and $3 million in rookie pay for the last pick of the first round at No. 30.

Selections in the draft’s second round, which will be held Wednesday night, do not automatically get guaranteed contracts and have to negotiate their deals individually with teams.

Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 forward, is the current favorite to earn the........

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