Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the cap hit for each NBA player by position. The first spot on the hardwood that I’ll be looking at is the point guard position, one of the most vital to any team’s success.
All told, NBA teams have committed a total of $393,634,516 in cap hits this season to the men who facilitate the offenses around the league. The average hit for the one spot this season is a respectable $4,686,125, with Chris Paul of the Clippers topping the list with a whopping $20,068,563 to account for on his year-end W-2 form.
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 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 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 who were already waived, except in the case of Will Bynum, who is the only point guard waived thus far who had a fully guaranteed deal.
The league’s point guards are listed below, in descending order of salary:
- Chris Paul (Clippers) $20,068,563
- Deron Williams (Nets) $19,754,465
- Derrick Rose (Bulls) $18,862,876
- Russell Westbrook (Thunder) $15,719,062
- John Wall (Wizards) $14,746,000
- Eric Bledsoe (Suns) $13,000,000
- Rajon Rondo (Mavs) $12,909,090
- Tony Parker (Spurs) $12,500,000
- Kyle Lowry (Raptors) $12MM
- Ty Lawson (Nuggets) $11,595,506
- Stephen Curry (Warriors) $10,629,213
- Jrue Holiday (Pelicans) $9,904,495
- Steve Nash (Lakers) $9,701,000
- Mike Conley (Grizzlies) $8,694,216
- Jeremy Lin (Lakers) $8,374,646
- George Hill (Pacers) $8MM
- Brandon Jennings (Pistons) $8MM
- Jeff Teague (Hawks) $8MM
- Goran Dragic (Suns) $7,500,000
- Isaiah Thomas (Suns) $7,238,606
- Jose Calderon (Knicks) $7,097,191
- Kyrie Irving (Cavs) $7,070,030
- Greivis Vasquez (Raptors) $6.4MM
- Jarrett Jack (Nets) $6.3MM
- Shaun Livingston (Warriors) $5,305,000
- Darren Collison (Kings) $4,797,664
- Ricky Rubio (Wolves) $4,660,479
- Andre Miller (Wizards) $4,625,000
- Mario Chalmers (Heat) $4MM
- Patrick Mills (Spurs) $3,842,105
- Devin Harris (Mavs) $3,787,896
- Raymond Felton (Mavs) $3,793,693
- Mo Williams (Wolves) $3,750,000
- Dante Exum (Jazz) $3,615,000
- Brandon Knight (Bucks) $3,553,917
- Damian Lillard (Blazers) $3,340,920
- Marcus Smart (Celtics) $3,283,320
- Alexey Shved (Sixers) $3,282,057
- Kemba Walker (Hornets) $3,272,091
- D.J. Augustin (Pistons) $3MM
- Jerryd Bayless (Bucks) $3MM
- Luke Ridnour (Magic) $2,750,000
- Kirk Hinrich (Bulls) $2,732,000
- Brian Roberts (Hornets) $2,732,000
- Trey Burke (Jazz) $2,548,560
- Shelvin Mack (Hawks) $2,433,333
- Elfrid Payton (Magic) $2,397,840
- Michael Carter-Williams (Sixers) $2,300,040
- Reggie Jackson (Thunder) $2,204,369
- Nate Robinson (Nuggets) $2,106,720
- Steve Blake (Blazers) $2,077,000
- Jordan Farmar (waived by Clippers) $2,077,000
- Ramon Sessions (Kings) $2,077,000
- Beno Udrih (Grizzlies) $2,077,000
- C.J. Watson (Pacers) $2,077,000
- Zach LaVine (Wolves) $2,055,840
- Norris Cole (Heat) $2,038,206
- Cory Joseph (Spurs) $2,023,261
- Will Bynum (Waived By Celtics) $2,015,908
- Dennis Schröder (Hawks) $1,690,680
- Pablo Prigioni (Knicks) $1,662,961
- Shane Larkin (Knicks) $1,606,180
- Tyler Ennis (Suns) $1,590,720
- Shabazz Napier (Heat) $1,238.640
- Donald Sloan (Pacers) $948,163
- Patrick Beverley (Rockets) $915,243
- Aaron Brooks (Bulls) $915,243
- Jimmer Fredette (Pelicans) $915,243
- Kendall Marshall (Bucks) $915,243
- Jannero Pargo (Hornets) $915,243
- Ronnie Price (Lakers) $915,243
- J.J. Barea (Mavs) $909,859
- Ish Smith (Thunder) $861,405
- Nick Calathes (Grizzlies) $816,482
- Isaiah Canaan (Rockets) $816,482
- Matthew Dellavedova (Cavs) $816,482
- Jorge Gutierrez (Nets) $816,482
- Ray McCallum (Kings) $816,482
- Nate Wolters (Bucks) $816,482
- Phil Pressey (Celtics) $816,432
- Spencer Dinwiddie (Pistons) $700K
- Jordan Clarkson (Lakers) $507,336
- Erick Green (Nuggets) $507,336
- Russ Smith (Pelicans) $507,336
Note: The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.