By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
We live in interesting times and as EuroLeague prepares for an equity fund to get involved in the ownership and a new addition to the Financial Fair Play with the European version of the “luxury tax”, salaries are getting higher and higher.
After COVID the intention of the clubs seemed to be that maximum salaries would be two million euros net for players all around Europe. That number especially this year is shuttered as more and more clubs are willing to pay up for talent.
That’s why, even though it’s a catchy title, a salary cap doesn’t exist in the EuroLeague, despite the upcoming changes. Yes, it will be harder for clubs to pay big money to players without doing their accounting calculations properly, but there’s no limit to the money each club can spend. They would just have to pay the league a premium called CBS, which solves the problem. You may argue that it’s not a good business practice, however business practice in European basketball gets thrown away from the window from the first moment.
This doesn’t mean money spent on players’ salaries is not worth the trouble. With the global market prices being set by the NBA, it only makes sense that salaries go up everywhere.
Still, to get this year to the Top 10 you have to get at least a $2,2 net salary, and for the first time in years, there are so many players above the $2M line. However, as usual, the devil is in the details and the taxation around Europe, even currency, is different.
Like in EuroLeague’s Financial Fair Play calculations, the salaries presented in the list are after local taxes – more on that in a case-by-case scenario – and for comparison shake with the NBA, the numbers are in dollars.
Just a reminder: Practically those salaries in the NBA would be double since the NBA publishes gross and not net salaries, plus those numbers are not official. It remains to be seen if there will be more clarity in the future due to the new version of the EuroLeague’s Financial Fair Play.
1. Sasha Vezenkov $4,1M (Olympiacos)
The former EuroLeague MVP returned from the NBA with one of the top contracts in EuroLeague’s history, getting pretty much the net salary he would have gotten if he stayed in the NBA. If his only motivation was financial, then it’s safe to assume that he could get even more money, but this wasn’t the case.
2. Shane Larkin $3,75M (Anadolu Efes)
Anadolu Efes‘ leader got a record four-year contract and lost the top spot of the list. Shane Larkin is expected to retire as an Anadolu Efes player and he will go down as one of the best-paid players ever in Europe. His previous salary was $4M net, so he is pretty much in a league of his own.
3. Mike James $3M (Monaco)
This is where things start to get tricky. It was reported during last season, that James had nine million net on the table by Monaco. However, he had other offers on the table which were $2,5M net per season. How does this make sense? Monaco essentially not having any taxation is a double-edged sword for players, who will have to pay their taxes in their country. So in theory, James’ contract will be $3M net, which would end up being a $2,2M deal or even less. Still, the net salary of James remains at the Top3 of the list if we just calculate the local (non) taxes of Monaco and EuroLeague would do the same on their Financial Fair Play calculations.
4. Kostas Sloukas $2,8M (Panathinaikos)
The Final Four MVP is in the second season of his contract with Panathinaikos and remains one of the best-paid players ever in Europe and the second-best-paid after Theodoros Papaloukas.
5. Walter Tavares $2,7M (Real Madrid)
This is also a very tricky situation. In the past, Tavares’s previous contract was presented to be $3M net annually, a number which was corrected later due to Spanish taxation to less than $2M net. The situation is similar this summer. Initially, it was reported that Tavares’ gross annual salary would be a huge amount of 5M euros. Per Eurohoops sources, he signed a 5-year 20M euros contract and it translates this season to a $2,7M net salary, but there’s one more asterisk. There’s a new big wealth tax in Spain which gets taxation to a huge 60%. If that’s the case with Tavares, then the salary would be even lower. Still, it’s well known that in the negotiations that lasted almost two years, Tavares’ side was aiming for a $3M net salary.
6. Kevin Punter $2,6M (Barcelona)
The former Partizan player was paid with the money that he was getting in Partizan, even if due to Spanish taxation (45%) according to some sources the net money he gets is less. Still, the $2,6M salary was confirmed by key sources on his case.
7-8. Κendrick Nunn $2,5M (Panathinaikos)
Considering his value, you can argue that this is a bargain for Panathinaikos, as Nunn decided even before the season ended to sign a two-year $5M deal with the EuroLeague champions.
7-8. Nikola Mirotic $2,5M (Armani Milan)
The Montenegrin stars remained among the top-paid players in Europe and it has to be noted that if we take also into account, the compensation he got for his record contract with Barcelona. then he should be on top of the list by far. Still, his current salary in Milan is more than good enough.
9. Darius Thompson $2,3M (Anadolu Efes)
His contract last year was a surprise and after a mediocre season in Turkey, he has a lot to prove on the court.
10-14. Evan Fournier $2,2M (Olympiacos)
The summer addition that created waves beyond the Atlantic more than any other, ended up in Greece for a relatively modest price. Still, he is in the Top 10 salaries and as he has explained, his coming to Olympiacos was meant to be.
10-14. Nigel Hayes-Davis $2,2M (Fenerbahce)
For the first time in his career, Nigel Hayes-Davis gets into the Top 10 list and he more than deserves it. Considering his last season and the interest he had from the NBA, the price seems to be right.
10-14. Willy Hernangomez $2,2M (FC Barcelona)
Coming last summer from the NBA, Willy is the best-paid Spanish player in Europe, in the second season of his three-year deal.
10-14. Vincent Poirier $2,2M (Anadolu Efes)
We ended up having 14 players in the Top 10 with Vincent Poirier being the third player of Anadolu Efes on the list. No other team has three players that are so well paid and Efes means business.
Toko, Juancho, Markus Howard and more
With the line for the Top10 being pushed to $2,2M, Toko Shengelia ($2,1M – Virtus Bologna) and Juancho Hernangomez ($2,1M Panathinaikos) just missed the cut, losing their spot from last year’s Top10. It has to be noted also that Markus Howard is getting $2M net from Baskonia and that’s why he didn’t wait for the summer market to sign. This is record spending by Baskonia and probably means that his buyout clause has skyrocketed also.
So we have at least 10 teams out of 18 EuroLeague teams this season having a player with a $2M net salary.
It’s also worth mentioning that players coming from the NBA, are not necessarily among the top salaries. Cedi Osman in Panathinaikos, Jordan Nwora, and Stanley Johnson in Anadolu Efes, for example, signed for less or much less than $2M.
Another player who was among the most wanted in Europe, Mario Hezonja, according to a source has a gross 3,5M euros salary, which puts him also near but under the $2M net salary line.