Following up with most recent NBA Next Podcast episode, here are some of the numbers and data referenced:

Future Cash Allocations By Team

As of this post, NBA teams are set to “spend” a combined total of $14.46 billion in total cash for the foreseeable future. These include any guaranteed, non-guaranteed or options that could be paid out by teams. Obviously, this is a fluid situation and with a potential Jaylen Brown extension or Damian Lillard/James Harden trade the team allocations will continue to shift. 

 

Rank

Team

Future Cash

1

PHX

$780,692,631

2

MIN

$754,046,580

3

MEM

$723,860,336

4

DEN

$667,607,741

5

POR

$667,281,975

6

ATL

$596,371,415

7

GSW

$563,116,444

8

CLE

$553,437,865

9

NOP

$527,292,917

10

MIA

$523,264,256

11

SAC

$522,361,693

12

DAL

$521,968,830

13

OKC

$480,119,215

14

CHA

$476,858,102

15

MIL

$475,019,287

16

HOU

$473,176,816

17

IND

$456,118,956

18

NYK

$436,751,297

19

CHI

$426,343,458

20

WAS

$402,405,520

21

LAL

$402,326,546

22

BOS

$396,168,076

23

LAC

$376,705,866

24

PHI

$372,122,963

25

BKN

$368,899,099

26

UTA

$339,087,430

27

DET

$306,645,095

28

TOR

$296,127,212

29

SAS

$292,766,125

30

ORL

$281,893,008
   

$14,460,836,754

 

Highest Earnings Players

A quick look at the top player earnings over the last five years versus potential earnings from 2023-24 season and forward.

Last 5 Years (2018-2022) 

  1. Stephen Curry, $212,031,769

  2. LeBron James, $197,966,106

  3. Paul George, $178,791,289

  4. Chris Paul, $172,312,791

  5. Damian Lillard: $169,381,710

  6. Kawhi Leonard, $167,011,305

  7. Kevin Durant, $164,714,648

  8. Klay Thompson, $163,626,510

  9. Russell Westbrook, $158,112,176

  10. Giannis Antetokounmpo, $157,750,311

 

Future Years (2023+) 

  1. Nikola Jokic, $276,122,630

  2. Devin Booker, $270,589,000

  3. Karl-Anthony Towns, $270,589,000

  4. Anthony Edwards, $219,434,817

  5. LaMelo Ball, $216,800,635

  6. Damian Lillard, $216,201,799

  7. Joel Embiid, $213,280,928

  8. Tyrese Haliburton, $211,708,435

  9. Bradley Beal, $207,740,400

  10. Domantas Sabonis, $203,616,000

 

Career Earnings Thru 2028-29

Take this with a grain of salt because the earnings list is the most fluid because of signings, trades and waivers, but here is a snapshot of what the current top-10 career earnings would look like through the 2028-29 season (View Full List). 

 

  1. LeBron James, $530,882,395

  2. Kevin Durant, $499,843,653

  3. Stephen Curry, $470,090,010

  4. Damian Lillard, $449,910,157

  5. Bradley Beal, $428,874,362

  6. Nikola Jokic, $426,640,075

  7. Chris Paul, $419,909,419

  8. Karl-Anthony Towns, $416,840,523

  9. Devin Booker, $401,105,653

  10. Joel Embiid, $380,102,965

 

For context, we referenced the potential 2028-29 maximum salaries based on a $207,902,000 salary cap and a player with 10+ years of experience that could sign at 35% of the cap (with 8% raises) could sign around a 5 year $422 million contract. 

Year 1: $72,765,700

Year 2: $78,586,956

Year 3: $84,408,212

Year 4: $90,229,468

Year 5: $96,050,724

Total: $422,041,060

 

Recent NBA Next Podcast referencing Future Maximum Salaries: listen now