Who will be the annual salary king in 2023?
Launched in 1997, KBL opened the FA (free agent) market in 2001. It wasn’t that it wasn’t as hot as fire every year, but the club was actively recruiting free agents while passing the salary cap exhaustion. As competition began to mount, players’ ransom values rose.
The highest salary in 2001 was Seo Jang-hoon (SK) with 330 million won. After that, for 4 years until 2004, it was Seo Jang-hoon’s solo No. 1 era. From 2005 to 2006, he shared the position of annual salary king with Kim Joo-seong (Dongbu). Kim Joo-seong, who enjoyed his heyday, was the highest paid player for eight years, including a tie for first place in 2005. The highest salary during this period was 710 million won in 2008.안전놀이터
Since then, the record of consecutive top-ranking awards did not last long. Moon Tae-jong (LG) received 680 million won in 2013 and 660 million won in 2014, ranking first for two consecutive years.
Kim Jong-gyu (DB) also ranked first in terms of pay for two consecutive years. In 2019, Kim Jong-gyu transferred to DB under the condition of 1.276 billion won. This is an all-time high. Although the 2019-2020 season ended early due to Corona 19, DB finished the season tied for first place with SK. Following this, Kim Jong-gyu signed a contract with DB for 710 million won in 2020 and became the annual salary king once more.
The highest annual salary in 2022 was Kim Seon-hyung (SK). SK exceeded the salary cap and treated Kim Seon-hyeong with the best. Last season, SK failed to lift the trophy in the regular league and championship match, but Kim Sun-hyeong reciprocated the best treatment. He won the MVP for his performance as if he had forgotten his age in the regular league, and also played an active role in the 7th game of the championship game with 37 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals.
The FA market this year is evaluated as the best ever. The 2022-2023 season playoff MVP Oh Se-geun, Moon Seong-gon, Choi Jun-yong, and Yang Hong-seok were released to the market. None of the players classified as the biggest fish have yet signed a contract. The period during which clubs and players can negotiate autonomously is until the 22nd.
