One of the most common topics that takes place in any barbershop or local watering hole around the country that is full of NBA fans is who are the most overpaid and underpaid NBA players.
ESPN decided to take that discussion to a analytical level to determine who the best value, or in other words, the best bang for the buck in the NBA this season based on salary and production.
Only players making at least $10 million in annual salary this year were considered, hence no star players on their rookie contracts.
So who do think was tops on the list in 2016-17? I’ll give you one wild guess… (hint: think reigning MVP) that’s right you guessed it, Steph Curry.
https://twitter.com/hornets_fanly/status/849339484097437696
Curry is your two-time reigning MVP, averaging 25.2 points, 6.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds on 46.7% shooting from the field and 40.4% from the three-point line.
He is also only making $12.1 million this season, which makes him the 82nd highest player in the league. Yes you read that correctly.
Curry of course is going to have a shiny, new $250 million plus contract this summer to reward him for his MVP caliber play in the off-season, but for now, he is by far the best bang for the buck in the NBA.
Here are the rest of the top 15 according to ESPN’s list, which analyzes scoring and non-scoring contributions divided by salary and multiplied by games played:
KAWHI
LEONARD
$17.6 MILLION
JIMMY
BUTLER
$17.5 MILLION
DEMARCUS
COUSINS
$16.9 MILLION
JOHN
WALL
$16.9 MILLION
GORDON
HAYWARD
$16 MILLION
DRAYMOND
GREEN
$15.3 MILLION
ERIC
BLEDSOE
$14 MILLION
RICKY
RUBIO
$13.5 MILLION
ERIC
GORDON
$12.3 MILLION
SERGE
IBAKA
$12.2 MILLION
KEMBA
WALKER
$12 MILLION
KYLE
LOWRY
$12 MILLION
NIKOLA
VUCEVIC
$11.7 MILLION
JRUE
HOLIDAY
$11.2 MILLION
Never thought you would see guys like Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon on this list coming into this season did you?
Can you guess who is at the bottom of the list? I’ll give you a hint, he has chronic knee issues and is known for his partying ways… it is Chandler Parsons.
Who knows how this list will look in the 2017-18 season.