News ·
BuzzerBeater salary formula change (Season 73): what actually moved
By Ubiond · All news
Around 4-5 August 2026 (Season 72→73 rollover), BuzzerBeater shipped a new player salary formula. As announced on Discord (BB-Marin and others), the pitch was: a simpler formula, close loopholes (cheap high ID on the perimeter), keep overall salary mass in a similar range, and tweak soft cap / DMI in the same pass.
This is a manager-facing summary of what seems to have moved. The % figures below are estimates from our BuzzerIQ models, fitted on large live player samples (pre vs post behaviour). Not official BB coefficients. Use them as a compass, then check your roster in the Salary & Cap Estimator.
TL;DR
- Guards / SF (perimeter): ID is clearly more expensive. IS a bit more too. Both still weigh less than PA / JS / OD.
- JR and PA a touch cheaper, especially PA on pure point guards and JR on shooting guards. Small shifts.
- Bigs: classic IS/ID/RB with low SB slightly cheaper. SB (block) weighs more.
- Overall, estimated salaries are a bit lower (roughly ~−4% median vs the old formula).
Skill weights by position
Here we show the approximate change in how much each skill weighs on that role's salary (new vs old). On PG/SG, ID and IS used to sit near zero (almost free). A raw "+%" from that baseline would look absurd, so we write ~0 → costs: they now have a real weight. That is the ID tax on shorts. In absolute terms they still weigh less than PA / JS / OD, so +1 training barely moves salary; stacked high ID (see builds below) is what gets expensive.
| Position | Skill | ~Δ role weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| PG | PA | ~−6% | Pure point guard a bit cheaper |
| PG | JR | ~−2% | Almost unchanged |
| PG | ID | ~0 → costs | Was almost free; high-ID shorts dearer |
| PG | IS | ~0 → costs | Up a bit; still light secondary |
| SG | JR | ~−8% | JR-heavy SG slightly cheaper |
| SG | ID | ~0 → costs | Same loophole closed as PG |
| SG | IS | ~0 → costs | Still light vs OD / JS |
| SF | ID | ~+11% | Clearer ID tax on wing |
| SF | IS | ~0 → costs | Still secondary |
| SF | JR | ~−4% | Mild |
| PF | IS / ID / RB | ~−1% to −3% | Classic interiors a bit cheaper |
| PF | SB (BL) | ~+40% | Block weighs more |
| C | IS / ID / RB | ~−2% to −6% | ID down a bit more |
| C | SB (BL) | ~+38% | Block weighs more |
Approximate salary shifts by build
Total player salary by position (max over roles). Order of magnitude, not a promise for every player:
| Build | ~Δ salary | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Guard with high ID (ID ≥ 13) | ~+10% | Loophole closed |
| SF with high ID (ID ≥ 13) | ~+13% | ID tax on wing |
| Guard with high IS (IS ≥ 14) | ~+8% | IS slightly dearer |
| Pure PG (high PA, low ID/IS) | ~−5.5% | PA a bit cheaper |
| JR-heavy guard | ~−3% | Mild |
| Traditional big (high IS/ID/RB, low SB) | ~−3% | Slightly cheaper |
| SB-heavy big (block ≥ 12) | ~+11% | Block matters more |
Training +1 ID/IS on a normal short still looks like a light secondary. The big jump is mainly ID on builds that are already high (and IS a bit), not from one ordinary training season.
Soft cap / potential
Soft cap was adjusted with the salary change. Directionally you see the same themes in "how full" a player looks: perimeter ID/IS count a bit more; block a bit more for bigs; pure PA / JR a hair less. Official weights are not published.
We do not get a "this player is capped" flag from BBAPI, only skills + potential. To improve estimates, we need community help:
Call to action
If you have trainees you know are soft-capped (training clearly at 1/3), share them on the BuzzerIQ Discord for study. A short list of known capped players beats guessing from one snapshot.
DMI & form decimals
In BuzzerIQ we use DMI to estimate game shape decimals (the hidden part of form between whole GS levels). Marin also confirmed DMI moved (tied to a changed hidden attribute), with an intent to keep levels similar. We are following the evolution over the next weeks via roster snapshots (season-open GS≈7, later GS=9). More concrete numbers once the sample has matured. No formula swap on day one.
Personal note (meta)
On bigs, I am fairly happy with the direction. If salary and cap both nudge toward more all-around interiors, and make pure "block-first, zero offense" less free, that helps break an old distortion: two stoppers parked as PGs because PA was nearly free on bigs, and IS-stuffed shorts parked as bigs. The vector is right. Fine-tuning will still come.
Same for cooling the eternal 3-2 / SB-heavy dominance: I like the intent. But salaries alone are not enough. You can still build expensive, SB-dominant rosters that win on the court. Rebalancing that meta almost certainly needs a hand on the match engine, not only the wage bill.
On shorts, I am having a harder time reading the changes. If the goal was to cool the stretch / 3-2 meta, taxing ID on shorts is odd given that man-to-man defense is essential, while IS as a salary component barely moved and stays economically a secondary. We will probably keep seeing high-IS shorts. We will understand more in the coming days as a community, also after developer statements.
Try it on your roster
Updated estimates are live in BuzzerIQ tools (salary estimator, training projections, roster). Feedback welcome on Discord.