The National
Basketball Association (NBA) teams are known for awarding top players
astronomical contracts. Some of the contracts’ sums are so large that teams are
forced to restructure their rosters and renegotiate contracts with other
players to stay within the league’s salary cap rules. Why do teams break the
bank to tie down elite-level players to long-term deals?
First, these players are always the best performers who can
turn the tide in a game. Basketball is a results-based business; winning games
and trophies are good for business. Second, fans flock to stores to purchase
jerseys and items bearing the best players’ names and images, leading to
massive off-the-court revenue. Lastly, sponsors and broadcasters are prepared
to fork out more money if a team features all-star players on the court. With
those in mind, these are the current
five largest contracts in the NBA.
Jaylen Brown - Boston Celtics - $304 million
Jaylen Brown has
been with the Boston Celtics since they selected him as
the third overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, and his playing statistics have
improved every year he has been on the team. Brown’s incredible ability to
score points and create assists for his teammates sees him influence the over under odds betting markets
whenever he pulls on the famous Celtics uniform.
Last season, Brown put up career-best figures for minutes
per game (35.9), field goal percentage (49.1%), free throw percentage (76.5%),
rebounds (6.9), assists (3.5), and points (26.6). The Celtics rewarded Brown’s
contributions to the team with a record-breaking five-year, $304 million contract extension. Even before this mega
deal, Brown earned almost $130 million during his NBA career.
Nikola Jokic - Denver Nuggets - $276 million
Nikola Jokic grew
up in a cramped two-bedroom apartment in Serbia in the 1990s but he is now
living the high life thanks to his almost unrivaled basketball skills earning
him mega-money. The Denver Nuggets
selected Jokic as the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, which was
relatively low in the pecking order. However, the 6ft 11in center has become
one of the best basketball centers ever seen.
Jokic’s rookie contract saw him collect a shade under $4.1
million over three years. The Nuggets gave Jokic a five-year, $147.1 million
extension in 2018 before bumping his latest deal to $276 million over five years. At the time, Jokic’s contract was the
most lucrative in the sport’s history, but Jaylen Brown’s $304 million
extension has since trumped it.
Bradley Beal - Phoenix Suns - $251 million
Bradley Beal
plays as a shooting guard for the Phoenix
Suns, but when he was a part of the Washington
Wizards roster, he put pen to paper on a five-year, $251 million contract extension.
The Wizards selected Beal as the third overall pick of the
2012 NBA Draft, and the Wizards wasted no time making Beal one of the five
starting players. His initial contract was worth $18.6 million over four years.
Beal signed a five-year extension worth $127 million in 2016 and another
two-year deal worth $70 million in 2021.
In June 2022, Beal declined a $36.4 million option to become
a free agent but agreed to a five-year, $251 million extension a week later.
Despite guaranteeing himself life-changing riches, Beal was unhappy at the
Wizards and was traded to the Phoenix Suns in late June 2023. Beal is playing
well, but nowhere near the standard you would expect someone earning $251
million would perform.
Giannis Antetokounmpo - Milwaukee Bucks - $228
million
Giannis Antetokounmpo
is affectionately known in basketball as “The
Greek Freak” due to his colossal size and his domination in the power
forward and small forward positions. The 29-year-old Greek-Nigerian has been
with the Milwaukee Bucks since the
Bucks selected him as the 15th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft.
Like a fine wine, Antetokounmpo has got better with age.
Antetokounmpo has broken several Milwaukee Bucks franchise records, including
being the youngest player to record at least 16,000 points, having the most
games with 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and an incredible 42 career
triple-doubles.
Antetokounmpo has been ever-present in the NBA All-Star team
since 2017, has won the NBA MVP award twice, and helped the Bucks win their
first NBA Championship in 50 years in 2021.
His latest contract is worth $228 million over five years, although he has declined the final
year of that deal. However, a new $175.8
million, three-year deal has been agreed from the start of the 2025-26
season, keeping Antetokounmpo with the Bucks until 2028.
Karl-Anthony Towns - Minnesota Timberwolves -
$221 million
Karl-Anthony Towns
arrived on the NBA scene with a reputation for being one of the hottest
prospects in basketball after the Minnesota
Timberwolves used their first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft to bring
Town to their setup. The Timberwolves immediately threw Towns into their
starting line-up, and he did not miss a game for his first three seasons as a
professional player.
Towns signed a five-year, $158 million deal in 2019 but then
missed chunks of the next two seasons through injuries and COVID-19. However,
that did not stop the Timberwolves from offering Towns another extension that
kicks in at the start of the 2024-25 regular season. That deal is worth a cool $221 million over four years.
Conclusion
Jaylen Brown, Nikola Jokic, Bradley Beal, Giannis
Antetokounmpo, and Karl-Anthony Towns are the five NBA players with the largest
contracts. Grab a calculator and add up their contracts’ worth, and you reach
an almost unbelievable figure of $1.28 billion! Those jaw-dropping figures go
some way to show how important NBA franchises see elite-level players, who
bring them success on the court and vast revenue streams off the court.
Although it seems unlikely, Brown’s $304 million contract
will likely be surpassed in the next few years, with several rising stars able
to command record-breaking deals. Keep an eye on Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, whose $163 million deal ends in
2025-26. Tatum will still only be 27 then and able to negotiate a bumper deal
with the Celtics or any other team that can afford him.