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:
- Stephen Curry, Warriors: $40,231,758
- Chris Paul, Thunder: $38,506,482
Russell Westbrook, Rockets: $38,506,482 - Kevin Durant, Nets: $38,199,000
James Harden, Rockets: $38,199,000
John Wall, Wizards: $38,199,000 - LeBron James, Lakers: $37,436,858 (15% trade kicker)
- Kyle Lowry, Raptors: $34,996,296 (plus incentives)
- Blake Griffin, Pistons: $34,449,964
- Paul George, Clippers: $33,005,556
- 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 - Gordon Hayward, Celtics: $32,700,690 (15% trade kicker)
- Mike Conley, Jazz: $32,511,624
- Kyrie Irving, Nets: $31,742,000 (plus incentives; 15% trade kicker)
- Khris Middleton, Bucks: $30,603,448
- Paul Millsap, Nuggets: $30,350,000 (plus incentives)
- Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers: $29,802,321
- Kevin Love, Cavaliers: $28,942,830
- Al Horford, Sixers: $28,000,000
Nikola Vucevic, Magic: $28,000,000 - DeMar DeRozan, Spurs: $27,739,975
- CJ McCollum, Trail Blazers: $27,556,959
- Joel Embiid, Sixers: $27,504,630
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets: $27,504,630
Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves: $27,504,630 - 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 - Otto Porter, Bulls: $27,250,576
- Andre Drummond, Pistons: $27,093,018 (8% trade kicker)
- Bradley Beal, Wizards: $27,093,018
Anthony Davis, Lakers: $27,093,018
Hassan Whiteside, Trail Blazers: $27,093,018 - Jrue Holiday, Pelicans: $26,231,111 (plus incentives)
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs: $26,000,000 (15% trade kicker)
- Steven Adams, Thunder: $25,842,697 (7.5% trade kicker)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: $25,842,697
- Marc Gasol, Raptors: $25,595,700
- Nicolas Batum, Hornets: $25,565,217
- Chandler Parsons, Hawks: $25,102,512
- Rudy Gobert, Jazz: $25,008,427 (plus incentives)
- Harrison Barnes, Kings: $24,147,727
- Serge Ibaka, Raptors: $23,271,604
- Danilo Gallinari, Thunder: $22,615,559
- Victor Oladipo, Pacers: $21,000,000
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.