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, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers of the Western Conference and we’ve now turned our attention toward the East, by running down the conference’s point guards, shooting guards and small forwards. Next up — the power forwards.
All told, the teams in the east have committed a total of $320,799,791 in cap hits this season to the men who man the four spot. The average conference salary for power forwards this season is currently $5,832,723, with Chris Bosh topping the list with $23,741,060 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 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 at power forward this season, as some will likely see some time at center. 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 the four for his team this season listed below, that’s why.
The Eastern Conference’s power forwards are listed below, in descending order of salary:
- Chris Bosh [Heat] —$23,741,060
- Kevin Love [Cavs] —$21,165,675
- Paul Millsap [Hawks] — $20,072,033
- Thaddeus Young [Pacers] — $14,153,652
- John Henson [Bucks] —$12,267,606
- Serge Ibaka [Magic] —$12,250,000
- Marvin Williams [Hornets] — $12,250,000
- Amir Johnson [Celtics] — $12,000,000
- Jon Leuer [Pistons] — $10,991,957
- Mirza Teletovic [Bucks] —$10,500,000
- Trevor Booker [Nets] — $9,250,000
- Taj Gibson [Bulls] — $8,950,000
- Channing Frye [Cavs] —$7,806,971
- Markieff Morris [Wizards] —$7,400,000
- Aron Baynes [Pistons] — $6,500,000
- Spencer Hawes [Hornets] — $6,348,759
- Andrew Nicholson [Wizards] —$6,088,993
- Patrick Patterson [Raptors] —$6,050,000
- Josh McRoberts [Heat] —$5,782,450
- Nikola Mirotic [Bulls] — $5,782,450
- Jared Sullinger [Raptors] —$5,628,000
- Luis Scola [Nets] — $5,500,000
- Jabari Parker [Bucks] —$5,374,320
- Cody Zeller [Hornets] — $5,318,313
- Jonas Jerebko [Celtics] — $5,000,000
- Jason Smith [Wizards] —$5,000,000
- Marcus Morris [Pistons] — $4,625,000
- Derrick Williams [Heat] —$4,598,000
- Nerlens Noel [Sixers] —$4,384,490
- Aaron Gordon [Magic] —$4,351,320
- Kristaps Porzingis [Knicks] —$4,317,720
- Lavoy Allen [Pacers] — $4,000,000
- Udonis Haslem [Heat] —$4,000,000
- Kris Humphries [Hawks] — $4,000,000
- James Johnson [Heat] —$4,000,000
- Kyle O’Quinn [Knicks] —$3,918,750
- Mike Scott [Hawks] — $3,333,334
- Justin Hamilton [Nets] — $3,000,000
- Thon Maker [Bucks] —$2,568,600
- Myles Turner [Pacers] — $2,463,840
- Henry Ellenson [Pistons] — $1,704,120
- Chris Andersen [Cavs] —$1,551,659
- Bobby Portis [Bulls] — $1,453,680
- Jordan Mickey [Celtics] —$1,223,653
- Chris McCullough [Nets] — $1,191,480
- Rakeem Christmas [Pacers]— $1,052,342
- Richaun Holmes [Sixers] —$1,025,831
- Anthony Bennett [Nets] — $1,015,696
- Mike Muscala [Hawks] — $1,015,696
- Willie Reed [Heat] —$1,015,696
- Arinze Onuaku [Magic] — $980,431
- Cristiano Felicio [Bulls] — $874,636
- Christian Wood [Hornets] — $874,636
- Danuel House [Wizards] —$543,471