Category: NBA Salaries

Dead money rankings 2023-24: Who’s making the most money without playing?

In this NBA season, teams are shelling out over $110 million in salaries to players they’ve released. That may sound like a lot, but it’s actually down from $182 million last year, when John Wall and Kemba Walker alone combined for $77 million from …

In this NBA season, teams are shelling out over $110 million in salaries to players they’ve released. That may sound like a lot, but it’s actually down from $182 million last year, when John Wall and Kemba Walker alone combined for $77 million from squads they were not playing for.

This year’s dead money list is dominated by players formerly with San Antonio and Oklahoma City, including No. 1 Kevin Porter, who never took to the court for the Thunder, having been waived shortly after his trade from Houston.

Top 50 highest-paid NBA players who never made an All-Star team

HoopsHype lists the Top 50 NBA players who made the most money and never made an All-Star team.

Did you know 45 players in NBA history have made over $100 million without an All-Star appearance?

HoopsHype compiled the 50 highest-paid players without making an All-Star team, combining to earn over $6.3 billion, according to our database.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

NBA players who were paid like stars (but were not)

Throughout league history, there are always players who are not at that top tier who get paid in the upper echelon. We delved into instances where mere role players or high-quality starters received star-like paychecks, landing in the Top 20 in …

Throughout league history, there are always players who are not at that top tier who get paid in the upper echelon.

We delved into instances where mere role players or high-quality starters received star-like paychecks, landing in the Top 20 in salaries for at least one season. Such situations might arise due to the market dynamics of the time or simply miscalculations by their front offices.

Here is a list that includes 22 players, including Chandler Parsons, Sam Bowie, and media personality Jalen Rose.

Ranking NBA teams by their all-time luxury tax payments

Here is a ranking of all NBA teams ranked by the amount of luxury tax they’ve paid in their history.

The NBA luxury tax system has been implemented for 20 seasons now. Every team with the exception of Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans have been taxpayers for at least one season. In these two decades, teams have paid a combined $2.82 billion in penalties.

We’ve put together a ranking of all 28 taxpayers based on their expenditure, accompanied by data that sheds light on their spending efficiency. While several of these high-spending teams enjoyed successful seasons, others, despite hefty investments, saw underwhelming regular seasons and limited success in the playoffs.

Trade kickers: Players who would receive a bonus if moved this season

Here are all the NBA players who would receive a trade bonus if traded during the 2023-24 season.

There are a handful of ways NBA players can earn more money on top of their base salaries. The most common way is through incentives where players earn extra cash if they or their teams meet specific performance-based criteria.

Another type of bonus is a trade kicker, where players earn extra money if traded during the duration of their contract. They can be negotiated into a veteran contract or extension for up to 15 percent of the player’s remaining base contract. If a player has multiple years left on his contract, the trade bonus is distributed evenly to the remaining years except those with pending options.

Below is a list of every player that would have their salaries increased if traded this season. It includes what their current trade bonus is if moved before the season starts and what the prorated amount would look like if dealt at the trade at the deadline. The exact date of the deadline hasn’t been decided yet, but we’ll use February 15, 2024 as a placeholder since it is the same amount of days into the season as last season’s deadline. If a player isn’t eligible to be moved right now, his prorated amount for the day he is trade-eligible is listed.

The most overpaid NBA players of all time

HoopsHype breaks down the most overpaid players in NBA history, a list featuring the likes of John Wall and Gordon Hayward.

We recently discussed the most underpaid players of all time, a list led by future Hall-of-Famers like LeBron James, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Today, we’re going to take things in the opposite direction and talk about the most overpaid players in NBA history. Just like with the most underpaid players list, this ranking is going to be made up of a lot of current players, as the modern money and statistical craze has made it so that records are being set yearly with regard to contract sizes and scoring totals.

Below, check out the most overpaid players in NBA history, according to our own Real Value metric.

The most underpaid NBA players of all time

HoopsHype presents the 30 most underpaid players in NBA history, headlined by LeBron James featuring many more current and former stars.

Last December, we ran an exercise using our Real Value metric (developed by our own Alberto de Roa which you can read all about here) to figure out who were the most underpaid NBA players of all time.

However, in this modern era with such hyper-inflated stats and salaries, the numbers can change quickly and after what was a thrilling 2022-23 season, the rankings already look a bit different, leading us to where we are today, once again ranking the most underpaid NBA players of all time.

A familiar face still leads the way at No. 1, a certain superstar for the purple-and-gold franchise, while various other modern stars riddle the top of these rankings.

Without further ado, let’s jump right in.

All-Contract Value Team: The biggest bargains in the NBA by position

Here are the best contract values by position with some honorable mentions listed as well.

The value of contracts in the NBA has become a bigger source of debate with their dollar amounts skyrocketing over the past decade. A player earning over $20 million or $30 million doesn’t have the same meaning that it used to. Now contracts are being analyzed in other ways such as their percentage to the salary cap.

So we made an All-NBA Team of the best contract values by position. In this exercise, we excluded players on rookie contracts and maximum salaries, since those amounts are generally fixed. It’s more practical to look at the contracts in between that are more nuanced and require a great deal of negotiation from both sides.

Ranking: The highest-paid shooting guards in NBA history

We list the Top 20 highest-paid shooting guards in NBA history.

Seven years after his final game in the NBA, Kobe Bryant remains the highest-paid shooting guard in league history. The ‘Black Mamba’ made over $328 million in a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

After Kobe, however, the following five shooting guards on the list are current NBA players… with James Harden projected to move past the L.A. legend in a few months.

Here’s the Top 20.

Ranking: The highest-paid players in Philadelphia 76ers history

HoopsHype breaks down the 12 highest-paid players in the history of the Philadelphia 76ers, led by Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the more aggressive spenders in recent history. In their pursuit of a championship, they’ve paid top dollar to the best players they can get. Most of the highest-paid players in their history are all current players thanks to the rising salary cap.

Here is a list of the 12 highest-paid Sixers players in franchise history.