The new NBA season tipped-off on Tuesday night as the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors were all in action in a stellar night of action in the association.
Both the Bucks and Warriors came out on top in those respective match-ups to get the season off to a blistering start, thus putting to bed a number of the offseason news. One of the biggest sub-plots of the off-season was the huge number of players from the 2018 Draft class to get their first contract extensions, but who are the league’s highest-paid players?
We will be breaking down the top five players who have the highest salary in the NBA, but if you are interested in betting on the NBA be sure to head over to Inkedin. Their site features the best in class when it comes to betting online, including some of the very best basketball betting sites that the industry has to offer.
Continue on to see the top five salaries in the NBA.
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5 – Damian Lillard – $43,750,000
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard opens this list with an eye-watering yearly salary of $43,750,000. It is the first year of a four-year extension that guarantees the point guard $196,000,000 over the next four seasons and takes him through to the prime of his career. There was plenty of speculation surrounding Lillard demanding a trade throughout the summer due to his frustrations with the franchise not giving him a team that is capable of competing for a NBA Championship. He has since committed to staying with the team but if they get off to a slow start this season don’t be surprised to see him on the move.
4 – James Harden – $43,848,000
Coming in $98,000 ahead of Lillard in fourth place is former NBA MVP James Harden. Harden is now with the Brooklyn Nets after forcing his way out of the Houston Rockets last year with some questionable tactics, creating a big three in New York alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Although it seems the latter will not play a big part for the Nets this season due to the ongoing vaccination saga, having just Harden and Durant alone still makes them the favourites to win the Eastern Conference.
3 – Russell Westbrook – $44,211,146
Russell Westbrook will be suiting up for his fourth team in four seasons this year after being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers from the Washington Wizards. Westbrook has what is widely considered to be one of the worst contracts in the NBA given his age and declining production over recent years and still has two years, $91m on his current contract. He has now been added to create a big three of their own in California next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but all eyes will be on Westbrook as we see how the fit is within this chemistry experiment.
2 – John Wall – $44,310,840
If you asked any NBA fan who is the owner of the worst contract in the NBA, most would answer John Wall. Like Westbrook, he has more than $91m left on his current deal over the next two seasons and it has been confirmed that he will play no part in the Houston Rockets’ season as they look to source a trade destination for him. Doing that will be far easier said than done given his recent injury history and size of salary, making a buyout a more likely resolution to the situation if he wants to play for a contending team this season.
1 – Stephen Curry – $45,780,966
The revolutionary Stephen Curry is the deserved highest-paid player in the NBA, having become the first player to ever sign two $200m deals in his career. His new contract will see him earn in excess of $50m per year over the final three years of the deal and he has done more than enough to deserve every penny that he is eligible for from the Golden State Warriors. Two down seasons for the Warriors have allowed them to retool their roster over the last two years and they are now expecting to welcome back Klay Thompson at some point over Christmas, reuniting the famous splash brothers duo in the process. Expect Curry to be competing for his third MVP award this season.
