While many of the NBA’s highest-paid players are on contracts considered maximum-salary deals, the 2020/21 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 $16MM more than Brandon Ingram in ’20/21 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 2020/21 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 2020/21 season. The players on this list don’t necessarily have the contracts with the largest overall value. The list below only considers salaries for ’20/21.
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 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 $21.25MM salary, so players like Pacers teammates Victor Oladipo ($21MM) and Malcolm Brogdon ($20.7MM) just missed out.
Here are the NBA’s 50 highest-paid players for the 2020/21 season:
- Stephen Curry, Warriors: $43,006,362
- Chris Paul, Suns: $41,358,814
Russell Westbrook, Wizards: $41,358,814 - James Harden, Rockets: $41,254,920
John Wall, Rockets: $41,254,920 - Kevin Durant, Nets: $40,108,950
- LeBron James, Lakers: $39,219,566
- Blake Griffin, Pistons: $36,810,996
- Paul George, Clippers: $35,450,412
- Klay Thompson, Warriors: $35,361,360
- Mike Conley, Jazz: $34,502,132
- Jimmy Butler, Heat: $34,379,100
Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: $34,379,100
Kemba Walker, Celtics: $34,379,100 - Tobias Harris, Sixers: $34,358,850
- Kyrie Irving, Nets: $33,460,350 (plus incentives; 15% trade kicker)
- Khris Middleton, Bucks: $33,051,724
- Anthony Davis, Lakers: $32,742,000
- Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers: $31,626,953
- Kevin Love, Cavaliers: $31,258,256
- Pascal Siakam, Raptors: $30,559,200
Ben Simmons, Sixers: $30,559,200 - Kyle Lowry, Raptors: $30,500,000
- Steven Adams, Pelicans: $29,592,695
- Joel Embiid, Sixers: $29,542,010
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets: $29,542,010
Andrew Wiggins, Warriors: $29,542,010 - Devin Booker, Suns: $29,467,800
Kristaps Porzingis, Mavericks: $29,467,800
Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves: $29,467,800 - CJ McCollum, Trail Blazers: $29,354,152
- Bradley Beal, Wizards: $28,751,774
Andre Drummond, Cavaliers: $28,751,774 - D’Angelo Russell, Timberwolves: $28,649,250
- Gordon Hayward, Hornets: $28,500,000
- Otto Porter Jr., Bulls: $28,489,239
- DeMar DeRozan, Spurs: $27,739,975
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: $27,528,088
- Rudy Gobert, Jazz: $27,525,281 (plus incentives)
- Al Horford, Thunder: $27,500,000
- Brandon Ingram, Pelicans: $27,285,000
Jamal Murray, Nuggets: $27,285,000 - Nikola Vucevic, Magic: $26,000,000
- Jrue Holiday, Pelicans: $25,876,111 (plus incentives)
- Buddy Hield, Kings: $24,701,834 (plus incentives)
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs: $24,000,000 (15% trade kicker)
- Jaylen Brown, Celtics: $23,735,118 (plus incentives)
- Draymond Green, Warriors: $22,246,956 (15% trade kicker)
- Harrison Barnes, Kings: $22,215,909
- Fred VanVleet, Raptors: $21,250,000
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.