NBA’s Top 50 Highest-Paid Players For 2019/20

While many of the NBA’s highest-paid players are on contracts considered maximum-salary deals, the 2019/20 salaries for those players vary significantly depending on when the player signed his contract and how much NBA experience he has. That’s why a player like Stephen Curry will earn nearly $13MM more than Anthony Davis in ’19/20 despite both stars technically being on max deals.

When a player signs a maximum-salary contract, he doesn’t necessarily earn the NBA max for each season of that contract — he earns the max in year one, then gets a series of identical annual raises. In Curry’s case, his 2019/20 salary actually exceeds this year’s maximum, since his deal started in the summer of 2017 and includes 8% annual raises. The annual cap increases haven’t kept up with those 8% raises.

Listed below, with the help of salary data from Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, are the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2019/20 season. The players on this list don’t necessarily have the contracts with the largest overall value. The list below only considers salaries for 2019/20

Additionally, we’ve noted players who could potentially increase their earnings via incentives or trade bonuses. We didn’t add those notes for players like Curry, James Harden, and others who have trade bonuses but are already earning the maximum — their salaries for this season can’t increase beyond their max.

The cutoff for a spot on this year’s top-50 list is a $21MM salary, so players like Tim Hardaway Jr. ($20,025,127) and Malcolm Brogdon ($20MM) just missed out.

Here are the NBA’s 50 highest-paid players for the 2019/20 season:

1. Stephen Curry, Warriors: $40,231,758
2. Chris Paul, Thunder: $38,506,482
   Russell Westbrook, Rockets: $38,506,482
4. Kevin Durant, Nets: $38,199,000
   James Harden, Rockets: $38,199,000
   John Wall, Wizards: $38,199,000
7. LeBron James, Lakers: $37,436,858 (15% trade kicker)
8. Kyle Lowry, Raptors: $34,996,296 (plus incentives)
9. Blake Griffin, Pistons: $34,449,964
10. Paul George, Clippers: $33,005,556
11. Jimmy Butler, Heat: $32,742,000
    Tobias Harris, Sixers: $32,742,000
    Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: $32,742,000
    Klay Thompson, Warriors: $32,742,000
    Kemba Walker, Celtics: $32,742,000
16. Gordon Hayward, Celtics: $32,700,690 (15% trade kicker)
17. Mike Conley, Jazz: $32,511,624
18. Kyrie Irving, Nets: $31,742,000 (plus incentives; 15% trade kicker)
19. Khris Middleton, Bucks: $30,603,448
20. Paul Millsap, Nuggets: $30,350,000 (plus incentives)
21. Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers: $29,802,321
22. Kevin Love, Cavaliers: $28,942,830
23. Al Horford, Sixers: $28,000,000
    Nikola Vucevic, Magic: $28,000,000
25. DeMar DeRozan, Spurs: $27,739,975
26. CJ McCollum, Trail Blazers: $27,556,959
27. Joel Embiid, Sixers: $27,504,630
    Nikola Jokic, Nuggets: $27,504,630
    Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves: $27,504,630
30. Devin Booker, Suns: $27,285,000
    Kristaps Porzingis, Mavericks: $27,285,000
    D’Angelo Russell, Warriors: $27,285,000
    Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves: $27,285,000
34. Otto Porter, Bulls: $27,250,576
35. Andre Drummond, Pistons: $27,093,018 (8% trade kicker)
36. Bradley Beal, Wizards: $27,093,018
    Anthony Davis, Lakers: $27,093,018
    Hassan Whiteside, Trail Blazers: $27,093,018
39. Jrue Holiday, Pelicans: $26,231,111 (plus incentives)
40. LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs: $26,000,000 (15% trade kicker)
41. Steven Adams, Thunder: $25,842,697 (7.5% trade kicker)
42. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: $25,842,697
43. Marc Gasol, Raptors: $25,595,700
44. Nicolas Batum, Hornets: $25,565,217
45. Chandler Parsons, Hawks: $25,102,512
46. Rudy Gobert, Jazz: $25,008,427 (plus incentives)
47. Harrison Barnes, Kings: $24,147,727
48. Serge Ibaka, Raptors: $23,271,604
49. Danilo Gallinari, Thunder: $22,615,559
50. Victor Oladipo, Pacers: $21,000,000

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.