Written by Alex Kennedy at Basketball Insider.com
Each season, Basketball Insiders lists the NBA’s 50 highest-paid players. In addition to showing which individuals are viewed as franchise cornerstones, the list also reveals some trends about the NBA (such as which types of players are being given lucrative contracts) and the state of the league’s economy.
This is especially true of this year’s list since some of the largest contracts in NBA history were given out this past offseason after the league’s new television deal led to an unprecedented salary cap increase.
Here are some interesting takeaways from this year’s salary data:
– Some of the highest-paid players for this season may surprise you. LeBron James ($30,963,450) is a no-brainer, but six players are tied for the second-highest salary in the NBA: DeMar DeRozan ($26,540,100), Al Horford ($26,540,100), Mike Conley ($26,540,100), Kevin Durant ($26,540,100), James Harden ($26,540,100) and Russell Westbrook ($26,540,100).
Durant, Harden and Westbrook aren’t shocking. Conley is a surprise since he has never even been an All-Star, but he hit free agency at the right time and landed a huge, maximum contract from the Memphis Grizzlies as a result. DeRozan and Horford also found themselves in the right place at the right time, landing huge deals from the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics, respectively, this summer. Conley, DeRozan and Horford aren’t typically brought up when we’re discussing top-three players in the NBA, yet the only player paid more money than them is James. Expect more surprising highest-paid players next summer, when even more lucrative deals will be handed out to free agents.
– This year, 19 non-All-Stars are among the top 50 highest-paid players. Mike Conley is the highest, tied for the second-largest salary this season, and he’s joined by Harrison Barnes, Hassan Whiteside, Chandler Parsons, Bradley Beal, DeAndre Jordan, Nicolas Batum, Ryan Anderson, Allen Crabbe, Tobias Harris, Greg Monroe, Enes Kanter, Wesley Matthews, Bismack Biyombo, Evan Fournier, Evan Turner, Gordon Hayward, Timofey Mozgov and Ian Mahinmi in the top 50 list.
As you can see, this list includes many players who just signed deals this summer. As if it wasn’t clear back in July, this summer was an amazing time to be a free agent and these rankings further prove that. After Conley, the next highest-paid non-All-Stars are Barnes, Whiteside, Parsons and Beal – all of whom will make $22,116,750 this season.
– One trend that we see is that 3-and-D players are being paid very, very well in today’s NBA. Allen Crabbe ($18,500,000) is probably the best example. Crabbe is a reserve for the Portland Trail Blazers, but he still managed to cash in due to his skill set and upside. The Brooklyn Nets were willing to throw a ton of money at Crabbe in their offer sheet (since he was a restricted free agent), but the Blazers viewed him as too valuable to let him go and matched the contract.
To continue reading this article, click here.
