Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the cap hit for each NBA player by position. We already ran down how the league’s centers and power forwards stacked up financially, and next we’ll check out the small forward position. All told, NBA teams have committed a total of $449,009,117 in salary this season to the men who man the three spot around the league. The average cap hit for a small forward this season is a solid $4,359,312, with Joe Johnson topping the list with the exorbitant sum of $24,894,863 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. 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 league’s small forwards are listed below, in descending order of salary. Please note that the official roster for each team was used for determining what position we listed each player under, and some of the players below may spend time at other spots on the hardwood:
- Joe Johnson (Nets) — $24,894,863
- LeBron James (Cavaliers) — $22,970,500
- Carmelo Anthony (Knicks) — $22,875,000
- Kevin Durant (Thunder) — $20,158,622
- Paul George (Pacers) — $17,120,106
- Kawhi Leonard (Spurs) — $16,407,500
- Tobias Harris (Magic) — $16,000,000
- Gordon Hayward (Jazz) — $15,409,570
- Chandler Parsons (Mavericks) — $15,361,500
- Danilo Gallinari (Nuggets) — $14,000,000
- DeMarre Carroll (Raptors) — $13,600,000
- Rudy Gay (Kings) — $12,403,101
- Andre Iguodala (Warriors) — $11,710,456
- Wilson Chandler (Nuggets) — $10,449,438
- Luol Deng (Heat) — $10,151,612
- Gerald Wallace (Waived by Sixers) — $10,105,855
- Jeff Green (Grizzlies) — $9,450,000
- Lance Stephenson (Clippers) — $9,000,000
- Trevor Ariza (Rockets) — $8,193,030
- Al-Farouq Aminu (Trail Blazers) — $8,042,895
- Jae Crowder (Celtics) — $6,796,117
- Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Hornets) — $6,331,404
- Martell Webster (Waived by Wizards) — $5,613,500
- P.J. Tucker (Suns) — $5,500,000
- Tony Allen (Grizzlies) — $5,168,000
- Chase Budinger (Pacers) — $5,000,000
- Otto Porter (Wizards) — $4,662,960
- Mike Dunleavy (Bulls) — $4,500,000
- Kyle Singler (Thunder) — $4,500,000
- C.J. Miles (Pacers) — $4,394,225
- Thabo Sefolosha (Hawks) — $4,000,000
- Harrison Barnes (Warriors) — $3,873,398
- Steve Novak (Thunder) — $3,750,001
- Terrence Ross (Raptors) — $3,553,917
- Matt Barnes (Grizzlies) — $3,542,500
- Will Barton (Nuggets) — $3,533,333
- Evan Turner (Celtics) — $3,425,510
- Quincy Pondexter (Pelicans) — $3,382,023
- Paul Pierce (Clippers) — $3,376,000
- Maurice Harkless (Trail Blazers) — $2,894,059
- Stanley Johnson (Pistons) — $2,841,960
- Omri Casspi (Kings) — $2,836,186
- Justise Winslow (Heat) — $2,481,720
- Doug McDermott (Bulls) — $2,380,440
- Danny Granger (Waived by Pistons) — $2,170,465
- Joe Ingles (Jazz) — $2,150,000
- Shabazz Muhammad (Timberwolves) — $2,056,920
- T.J. Warren (Suns) — $2,041,080
- Perry Jones III (Waived by Celtics) — $2,038,206
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) — $1,953,960
- Kelly Oubre (Wizards) — $1,920,240
- Sam Dekker (Rockets) — $1,646,400
- Lance Thomas (Knicks) — $1,636,842
- Sergey Karasev (Nets) — $1,599,840
- Tony Snell (Bulls) — $1,535,880
- Bruno Caboclo (Raptors) — $1,524,000
- Caron Butler (Kings) — $1,499,187
- Rasual Butler (Spurs) — $1,499,187
- Richard Jefferson (Cavaliers) — $1,499,187
- James Jones (Cavaliers) — $1,499,187
- Metta World Peace (Lakers) — $1,499,187
- Tayshaun Prince (Timberwolves) — $1,499,187
- Solomon Hill (Pacers) — $1,358,880
- Gerald Green (Heat) — $1,356,146
- Alonzo Gee (Pelicans) — $1,320,000
- Luc Mbah a Moute (Clippers) — $1,270,964
- Brandon Rush (Warriors) — $1,270,964
- Reggie Bullock (Pistons) — $1,252,440
- Marcus Thornton (Rockets) — $1,185,784
- Chris Copeland (Bucks) — $1,150,000
- Damjan Rudez (Timberwolves) — $1,149,500
- Kyle Anderson (Spurs) — $1,142,879
- Josh Huestis (Thunder) — $1,140,240
- Kevon Looney (Warriors) — $1,131,960
- Luke Babbitt (Pelicans) — $1,100,602
- Jeremy Evans (Mavericks) — $1,100,602
- Wesley Johnson (Clippers) — $1,100,602
- Robert Covington (Sixers) — $1,000,000
- Chris Johnson (Jazz) — $981,348
- Allen Crabbe (Trail Blazers) — $947,276
- Damien Inglis (Bucks) — $855,000
- Cleanthony Early (Knicks) — $845,059
- Jerami Grant (Sixers) — $845,059
- Devyn Marble (Magic) — $845,059
- James Michael McAdoo (Warriors) — $845,059
- JaKarr Sampson (Sixers) — $845,059
- Kostas Papanikolaou (Nuggets) — $800,321
- Michael Beasley (Waived by Suns via stretch provision) — $777,778
- Anthony Brown (Lakers) — $700,000
- Darrun Hilliard (Pistons) — $600,000
- Maurice Ndour (Mavericks) — $525,094
- Branden Dawson (Clippers) — $525,093
- Lamar Patterson (Hawks) — $525,093
- Melvin Ejim (Waived by Magic) — $150,000
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Waived by Knicks) — $75,000
- Darion Atkins (Waived by Knicks) — $75,000
- J.J. O’Brien (Waived by Jazz) — $75,000
- Quincy Miller (Waived by Nets) — $50,000
- E.J. Singler (Waived by Jazz) — $50,000
- Jamil Wilson (Waived by Mavericks) — $50,000
- Vince Hunter (Waived by Kings) — $30,000
- Malcolm Miller (Waived by Celtics) — $25,000
- Axel Toupane (Waived by Raptors) — $25,000
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.