By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Seventy. A good, round number. That’s how many million dollars the salary cap was two years ago (2015-16). And then… The league’s new TV deal with ESPN and Turner Sports, which came into force in 2016 and is estimated at $2.660.000.000 annually, keeps adding to the cap. At $94.143.000 the following season, $99.093.000 last season and $101.869.000 for the coming season.
The players’ contracts could only follow accordingly.
Eurohoops presents the Top 10 of the new season.
#10 JAMES HARDEN (Houston Rockets)
2018-19 contract: $30.421.854
Career stats: 23 points | 5.1 rebounds | 6.1 assists | 1.5 steals | 0.5 blocks | 3.5 turnovers | 34 minutes
The 29-year-old point guard has been receiving $30.421.854 since the last year of the extension he had signed in the summer of 2016, while at the end of the year, his next contract and the most expensive one in the history of the NBA, which he signed in the summer of 2017 ($169.344.000 until 2023), will come into force. As long as the money’s pouring into his bank account, he will continue to try to reach the end of the line with the Rockets. Last season, the job was only half done (3-4 by the Warriors in the Western Conference finals), even though he was able to alleviate his disappointment by being chosen as the MVP of the year.
#9 MIKE CONLEY (Memphis Grizzlies)
2018-19 contract: $30.521.115
Career stats: 14.3 points | 2.9 rebounds | 5.7 assists | 1.5 steals | 0.2 blocks | 2 turnovers | 33 minutes
The second season of what was then (2016) the most expensive contract in the history of the NBA ($152.605.576 until 2021) will yield the 31-year-old point guard the amount of $30.521.115. It remains to be seen what the value for money will be for the Grizzlies ($24.119.025 for the second-highest-paid Grizzly, Marc Gasol), as he’s coming back from an Achilles tendon rupture in his left leg from last January. They’ve been together since 2007 (#4) and in their best season, they reached the Western Conference finals (2013) (4-0 to the Spurs).
#8 PAUL GEORGE (Oklahoma City Thunder)
2018-19 contract: $30.560.700
Career stats: 18.6 points | 6.2 rebounds | 3.2 assists | 1.7 steals | 0.4 blocks | 2.6 turnovers | 33 minutes
The 28-year-old small forward’s name was one of those that monopolized interest in the summer market, before finally renewing with the Thunder for $136.911.936 until 2022 and putting off his dream as a native Californian of playing for the Lakers. The first year of his contract will make him $30.560.700 richer but not the highest-paid player on the team (that’s Russell Westbrook), with who he didn’t manage to get further than the first round of the playoffs (2-4 to the Jazz) in his first season with them last year.
#7 KYLE LOWRY (Toronto Raptors)
2018-19 contract: $31.000.000
Career stats: 14.4 points | 4.2 rebounds | 5.9 assists | 1.3 steals | 0.3 blocks | 2.2 turnovers | 31 minutes
The 32-year-old point guard will enter his second year of the renewal he signed in the summer of 2017 for $100.000.000 until 2020 and it will earn him $31.000.000. He’s the highest paid among the Raptors ($27.739.975 for DeMar DeRozan), where he has been playing since 2013. Together, they have a streak of five consecutive appearances in the playoffs, but without ever getting further than the Eastern Conference finals, which they did only once (4-2 to the Cavaliers in 2016).
#6 GORDON HAYWARD (Boston Celtics)
2018-19 contract: $31.214.295
Career stats: 15.6 points | 4.2 rebounds | 3.4 assists | 1 steals | 0.4 blocks | 2 turnovers | 31 minutes
The 28-year-old small forward was the player that made the boldest decision in the summer of 2017 (Jazz 2010-17, Celtics 2017-today), but he was also the most unfortunate in the season that followed, since in the first minutes of the opening game he was lying on the court and writhing in pain (tibia fracture and ankle dislocation in his left leg). The second year of his contract will essentially be his first and will reach $31.214.295. The Celtics are expecting him to return fit for the start of the new season.
#5 BLAKE GRIFFIN (Detroit Pistons)
2018-19 contract: $31.873.932
Career stats: 21.5 points | 9.2 rebounds | 4.3 assists | 0.9 steals | 0.5 blocks | 2.5 turnovers | 35 minutes
Next season will be his second with the Pistons, but with earnings like he had agreed in the summer of 2017 with his previous team, the Clippers (2009-18), before they traded him last January. The 29-year-old power forward has a contract until 2022 that’s worth a total of $171.174.820 and the second season will bring him $31.873.932, considerably more than the second highest paid Piston, Andre Drummond ($25.434.263).
#4 RUSSELL WESTBROOK (Oklahoma City Thunder)
2018-19 contract: $35.350.000
Career stats: 23 points | 6.6 rebounds | 8.2 assists | 1.7 steals | 0.3 blocks | 4 turnovers | 34 minutes
Mr. Triple Double (the only player in history with back-to-back seasons with such averages) could not be anything other than the highest paid player in the Thunder and one of the highest paid players in the entire NBA. The 30-year-old point guard has been a resident of Oklahoma City throughout his entire career (#4 in 2008) and will continue to be until at least 2023, when his contract expires, an extension worth
$205.030.000 from September 2017, the most expensive contract that has ever been signed. The first year of this contract will earn him $35.350.000, while it can reach (player option) up to $46.662.000.
#3 LEBRON JAMES (Los Angeles Lakers)
2018-19 contract: $35.654.150
Career stats: 27.2 points | 7.4 rebounds | 7.2 assists | 1.6 steals | 0.8 blocks | 3.5 turnovers | 39 minutes
There’s no need for words when it comes to the three-time NBA Champion and four-time MPV of the year, especially after “The Decision: Vol.3,” which led him and his talents outside the East for the first time, all the way to Los Angeles for the Lakers. As the King, the 34-year-old small forward could only get a corresponding contract: $153.312.846 until 2022, with earnings reaching $35.654.150 in the first season. Those are the highest he has ever received ($33.285.709 last year in the Cavaliers).