In November 2015, Jamie Davis, Chris Davis, Ryan Davis and Dominik Zrim came together to build CapFriendly, a website that tracks NHL player contracts, team salaries, and information pertaining to the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). While hockey had always been their passion, almost immediately after launching CapFriendly, discussions about eventually expanding to other sports took place as it was something they always had interest in pursuing.
Fast forward to September 2019 when the team began building SalarySwish, a CapFriendly equivalent for basketball relating to the National Basketball Association. The hope was to bring the same level of information and detail that could be found on CapFriendly to the Basketball community.
The project took 4 years to complete and launched on September 12, 2023. The site tracks all player contracts, team salary caps, roster transactions, trades, depth charts, and much more.
All four members of the SalarySwish team live in Canada but began following the game of basketball at different times in their lives:
Dominik Zrim: “I started watching basketball in the early 1990’s when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were dominating the league. I remember playing basketball with my friends outside my house until the sun went down, and then rushing inside to watch the Bulls play. They were the most electric and exciting team I have ever seen. But my favorite team growing up was the Golden State Warriors. At that time, they weren’t the powerhouse that they are today, but something about Chris Mullin dropping all those threes, and Tim Hardaway’s killer cross over, had me hooked”
Jamie Davis: “When Ryan, Chris, and I were kids our father installed a hoop in our front yard driveway. I have fond memories of playing basketball with the two of them every summer holiday. Fast forward to the 2019 playoffs, Raptors fever swept over all of Canada. While watching the team go on their championship run, the CapFriendly team started discussing the NBA CBA details and its intricacies. These discussions lead to the idea of SalarySwish and the beginning of its development.”
Chris Davis: “My enjoyment of basketball started in middle school when we spent all of recess playing Bump in the playground. At that point, the Raptors had Vince Carter, an all-time great and fan favourite. My love for basketball grew while watching the Raptors continue to grow their team with all-star players like Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard. I still vividly remember hanging onto the edge of my seat during the infamous Kawhi Leonard Game 7 buzzer beater, before going on to win in the championship! Diving into the intricacies and developing an expertise of the NHL CBA inspired us to branch out and bring the same passion towards the NBA. We are excited to bring the same level of detail to basketball fans.”
Ryan Davis: “The first basketball I personally owned was a Vancouver Grizzlies ball I won at a fair as a kid. I used that ball everyday until the dots were completely worn off and the Grizzlies logo was ineligible. Playing as a kid I would daydream about being an NBA star and hitting a buzzer beater shot. My love for basketball continued to deepen through playing NBA video games and fantasy basketball. I became more interested in the management side of basketball as I got older and was fascinated by the many different strategies teams have to create a competitive roster.”
Our goal is to offer basketball fans around the world a resource that gives them one more way to fall in love with their favorite teams all over again. By tracking each team’s salary cap, individual player contracts, and through building new features and tools, we strive to give our users a glimpse of the ways that a Basketball Operations front office works.
SalarySwish is not in any way affiliated with the National Basketball Association (NBA) or any of its respective teams. All third-party trademarks (including logos) referenced by SalarySwish Inc. remain the property of their respective owners. SalarySwish Inc. does not own any of the team, league or event trademarks/uniforms depicted within this site. Unless specifically identified as such, SalarySwish Inc.'s use of third-party trademarks does not indicate any relationship, sponsorship, or endorsement between SalarySwish Inc. and the owners of these trademarks.