By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
In the last few years, EuroLeague clubs are trying to cut down expenses, and in most cases that means players’ salaries.
However, every summer while initially, they seem committed to a more prudent budget allocation, in the end, the top EuroLeague players earn salaries comparable to those of the NBA middle-to-low class.
Darius Thompson is the newest addition to this club, after signing his three-year (2+1) with Anadolu Efes.
Per multiple sources, Thompson’s salary is €2,3M per season net, making his contract comparable with a $15M deal in the NBA.
This number explains how Efes secured his signing, while he was one of the most coveted point guards in Europe. No other team was willing to get to this kind of number and get over the line of two million, something understandable for a player who had a stellar season in Baskonia and ended up winning the jackpot.
While Baskonia is notoriously secretive about numbers, the best-case scenario for Thompson seems to be a €500.000 salary from the Spanish club, so he got more than a 300% raise.
The new contract puts him in this moment among the Top 3 contracts in Europe – here are last season’s top salaries – and the funniest note of this story is the following.
Since he is replacing Micic, whose contract this year would be €4M net, Efes managed on the same time to replace their star in the best possible way, pay him a huge contract, and at the same time save money compared to Micic’s deal. So everyone in the end is happy.