Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the cap hit for each NBA player by position. I’ve already posted the point guard and shooting guard salary rankings for the 2014/15 campaign. The next spot on the hardwood that I’ll be looking at is the small forward position for the 2014/15 season.
All told, NBA teams have committed a total of $392,677,538 in cap hits this season to the versatile men tasked with manning the small forward position around the league. The average cap hit for the three spot this season is a respectable $4,674,733, with Joe Johnson of the Nets topping the list with an impressive $23,180,790.
It should be noted that teams won’t necessarily pay out every dollar listed here. There are quite a few players who have non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. Some of those players will be sweating it out all the way until January 7th. That’s when teams must waive players with no specific guarantee date written into their contracts to avoid having to guarantee their salaries for the rest of the season. Most salaries align with cap hits, but that’s not the case for a player like Jeremy Lin, who’s getting close to $15MM from the Lakers this season even though his cap hit is little more than half that amount, because of the contract he signed through the Gilbert Arenas Provision. In addition, incentive clauses that a player either triggers or fails to meet can leave a player with more or less money than his cap hit reflects.
Still, the purpose of this list is to show the relative pay scale by position, which is why all contracts are included in this post. The only deals which were omitted were for players with non-guaranteed contracts who were already waived.
The league’s small forwards are listed below, in descending order of salary:
- Joe Johnson (Nets) $23,180,790
- Carmelo Anthony (Knicks) $22,458,401
- LeBron James (Cavs) $20,644,400
- Rudy Gay (Kings) $19,317,326
- Kevin Durant (Thunder) $18,995,624
- Paul George (Pacers) $15,925,680
- Gordon Hayward (Jazz) $14,746,000
- Chandler Parsons (Mavs) $14.7MM
- Josh Smith (Waived by Pistons) $13.5MM
- Nicolas Batum (Blazers) $11,765,500
- Tyreke Evans (Pelicans) $11,265,416
- Danilo Gallinari (Nuggets) $10,854,850
- Gerald Wallace (Celtics) $10,105,855
- Luol Deng (Heat) $9,714,461
- Jeff Green (Grizzlies) $9.2MM
- Trevor Ariza (Rockets) $8,579,089
- Tayshaun Prince (Celtics) $7,707,865
- Wilson Chandler (Nuggets) $6,757,913
- P.J. Tucker (Suns) $5.7MM
- Andrew Wiggins (Wolves) $5,510,640
- Martell Webster (Wizards) $5,381,750
- Paul Pierce (Wizards) $5,305,000
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Hornets) $5,016,960
- Chase Budinger (Wolves) $5MM
- Nick Young (Lakers) $4,994,420
- Jabari Parker (Bucks) $4,930,560
- Kostas Papanikolaou (Rockets) $4,591,066
- Caron Butler (Pistons) $4.5MM
- Otto Porter (Wizards) $4,470,480
- Thabo Sefolosha (Hawks) $4,150,000
- Steve Novak (Jazz) $3,445,947
- Matt Barnes (Clippers) $3,396,250
- Mike Dunleavy (Bulls) $3,326,235
- Andrei Kirilenko (Sixers) $3,326,235
- Chris Copeland (Pacers) $3,135,000
- Dorell Wright (Blazers) $3,135,000
- Harrison Barnes (Warriors) $3,049,920
- Kawhi Leonard (Spurs) $2,894,059
- Terrence Ross (Raptors) $2,793,960
- Mike Miller (Cavs) $2,732,000
- DeMarre Carroll (Hawks) $2,442,445
- Tobias Harris (Magic) $2,380,594
- Doug McDermott (Bulls) $2,277,960
- Danny Granger (Heat) $2,077,000
- John Salmons (Pelicans) $2MM
- Shabazz Muhammad (Wolves) $1,971,960
- T.J Warren (Suns) $1,953,120
- Maurice Harkless (Magic) $1,887,840
- Jeremy Evans (Jazz) $1,794,871
- Luigi Datome (Pistons) $1,750,000
- Tony Snell (Bulls) $1,472,400
- Bruno Caboclo (Raptors) $1,458,360
- Solomon Hill (Pacers) $1,302,840
- Rodney Hood (Jazz) $1,290,360
- Shawne Williams (Heat) $1,227,985
- Damjan Rudez (Pacers) $1.1MM
- Kyle Anderson (Spurs) $1,093,680
- Kyle Singler (Pistons) $1,090,000
- Xavier Henry (Lakers) $1,082,000
- Austin Daye (Spurs) $1,063,384
- Robert Covington (Sixers) $1MM
- Al-Farouq Aminu (Mavs) $981,084
- Luke Babbitt (Pelicans) $981,084
- Rasual Butler (Wizards) $915,243
- Omri Casspi (Kings) $915,243
- Jae Crowder (Mavs) $915,243
- Alonzo Gee (Nuggets) $915,243
- Draymond Green (Warriors) $915,243
- Richard Jefferson (Mavs) $915,243
- Wesley Johnson (Lakers) $915,243
- James Jones (Cavs) $915,243
- Shawn Marion (Cavs) $915,243
- Jeff Taylor (Hornets) $915,243
- Lance Thomas (Waived by Knicks) $915,243
- Hedo Turkoglu (Clippers) $915,243
- Jerami Grant (Sixers) $884,879
- Damien Inglis (Bucks) $820K
- Glen Rice Jr. (Waived by Wizards) $816,482
- Jeff Adrien (Waived by Wolves) $742,962
- Cleanthony Early (Knicks) $507,336
- James Ennis (Heat) $507,336
- Joe Ingles (Jazz) $507,336
- K.J. McDaniels (Sixers) $507,336
- Travis Wear (Knicks) $507,336
Note: A number of players on this list also spend time at shooting guard. I used the positions listed on the official team rosters in compiling these rankings.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.