Hoops Rumors is in the process of ranking the salaries, separated by conference, for each NBA player by position. We’ve already looked at the point guards of the Western Conference and will now turn our attention toward the conference’s centers.
All told, the teams out west have committed a total of $247,911,928 in cap hits this season to the men who man the middle. The average conference salary for the five spot this season is $5,634,362, with Marc Gasol and DeAndre Jordan topping the list with a more than respectable $21,165,675 to account for on their year-end W-2 forms.
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 won’t make it out of the preseason, while others will be sweating it out until January 10th. 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.
I should also add that not every player listed below will play center this season, as some will likely play power forward. To maintain uniformity, I used their positions listed on the teams’ official rosters to determine which list to include them on. So if you see a player who isn’t expected to play center for his team this season listed below, that’s why.
The Western Conference’s centers are listed below, in descending order of salary:
- Marc Gasol [Grizzlies] — $21,165,675
- DeAndre Jordan [Clippers] —$21,165,675
- Enes Kanter [Thunder] —$17,145,838
- DeMarcus Cousins [Kings] —$16,957,900
- Timofey Mozgov [Lakers] —$16,000,000
- Pau Gasol [Spurs] —$15,500,000
- Tyson Chandler [Suns] —$12,415,000
- Nikola Pekovic [Wolves] —$12,100,000
- Andrew Bogut [Mavs] — $11,027,027
- Omer Asik [Pelicans] —$9,904,494
- Kosta Koufos [Kings] —$8,046,500
- Cole Aldrich [Wolves] —$7,643,979
- Festus Ezeli [Blazers] —$7,400,000
- Tarik Black [Lakers] —$6,191,000
- Karl-Anthony Towns [Wolves] —$5,960,160
- Alex Len [Suns] —$4,823,621
- Alexis Ajinca [Pelicans] —$4,638,203
- Jordan Hill [Wolves] —$4,000,000
- Willie Cauley-Stein [Kings] —$3,551,160
- Anderson Varejao [Warriors] — $3,535,664 *See note below
- Steven Adams [Thunder] —$3,140,517
- Dewayne Dedmon [Spurs] —$2,898,000
- Nene [Rockets] —$2,898,000
- Zaza Pachulia [Warriors] — $2,898,000
- Gorgui Dieng [Wolves] —$2,348,783
- Mason Plumlee [Blazers] —$2,328,530
- Georgios Papagiannis [Kings] —$2,202,240
- Rudy Gobert [Jazz] —$2,121,287
- Jusuf Nurkic [Nuggets] — $1,921,320
- Anderson Varejao [Warriors] — $1,551,659
- JaVale McGee[Warriors] — $1,403,611
- Marreese Speights [Clippers] —$1,403,611
- Nikola Jokic [Nuggets] — $1,358,500
- Clint Capela [Roclets] —$1,296,240
- Damian Jones [Warriors] — $1,171,560
- Greg Stiemsma [Blazers] — $1,139,123
- Robert Sacre [Pelicans] —$1,050,961
- Ivica Zubac [Lakers] —$1,034,956
- Jeff Withey [Jazz] —$1,015,696
- Salah Mejri [Mavs] — $874,636
- Joffrey Lauvergne [Thunder] —$854,860
- A.J. Hammons [Mavs] — $650,000
- Chinanu Onuaku [Rockets] — $543,471
- Diamond Stone [Clippers] —$543,471
Note: Varejao’s salary includes the $1,551,659 he is earning from the Warriors and the $1,984,005 he is being paid by the Blazers, who waived him via the Stretch Provision.